Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium
by Corvus no Genmu
Summary: I am about to go into my final fight. If I fail… know that there is nothing else that can be done… accept the future and pray that you’ll live long enough to see the dawn… Listen to my story and know the truth… between darkness… and the light…
1. The Rising of the Moon

Me: In the dark of the night, I arrive on silent wings... quills and scrolls are my company in the forgotten library of ideas found and forgotten.

Bahamut: ... The hell are you doing?

Me: I'm setting the mood. Why don't you try it?

Mewtwo: ... From the shadows I walk through the veils of the full moon's light, seeking a purpose amongst they who walk in the light of day.

Bahamut: Hrmm... Through the fires of destruction, I fly towards the horizon line, forever searching, forever guided by the strings that make me a puppet in the hands of mortal life.

Me: Yes! That's what I'm talking about!

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**A/N: Just to let everyone know, the basic background, that is the beginning of the beginning, shall be told next chapter. Now, without further ado, let us begin the final saga of the Kamen Riders! UNLOCK!

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DISCLAIMER: I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.  
**

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**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_The Rising of the Moon_

_"I… am about to go into my final fight. If anyone is watching this then hopefully it means that the battle is over, the Past-that-Was has been restored and our world, our future is safe. If I have failed… know that there is nothing else that can be done… accept the future and pray that you'll live long enough to see the dawn…"_

* * *

The slums of the Ice District of New Eden were, at the best of times, referred simply as the Snowfields. At the worst, it was called a Frozen Hell. Both were rather strange names as the Ice District, contrary to the name, did not have snow or ice at all, no matter the season. Rather it was because of the massive super computers that powered the entire eastern side of New Eden's technologies. However, this also made the Ice District a prime target for sabotage.

In the darkness of a moonless night, a small troop of soldiers marched through the empty streets. Though they were of human shape and body, only a few of their number could be called as such. They who wore only the basic of protective armor whose eyes shone in the black, bringing light to the darkness. It was thanks to them that the human race, what little of it there was, had a chance to continue their existence for reploids are protectors of humanity.

The leader of the troop, marked by the captain's stripes on her shoulders, was one of the two pure-born humans in the troop. The rest were all machines, copies of life, as she privately thought them to be. Though she was born and raised amongst them, Captain Maria subconsciously held the same disgust that had passed through her family in concern to the reploids. Her cobalt eyes fell upon one such soldier whose face, though stoic, faintly twitched with unease. '_Bad enough they can be so human but to actually be able to breed with each other or us… What is Cyberdynne thinking? If the human race dies, at least these templates will live on?_'

Her thoughts were interrupted by her 2IC, a reploid by name of Digger. "Sir."

"Where and how many?" She asked in return, raising her gun to the dark. Hesitation was forbidden in the armed forces and attention was never drawn from these patrols unless a target was in sight.

"Ahead, twenty meters. It moved out of range before Milesight could scan it completely." Captain Maria spared a quick glance back at the reploid in question but otherwise kept her eyes to the front. The rest of her troop had their weapons raised and ready to fire.

"E Class then… Darkstalker I'm assuming?"

"That much we know." Digger agreed.

"Great… Spread out and move in, scanners at maximum."

The troop slowly ambled forward, spreading out to form a half-circle, eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of their prey. A small thump before a white-hot blast of laser fire lit up the night. There was a pained scream and the scrabbling of claws as something stumbled away from them. One of the soldiers walked over into the dark and came out holding a bloodied arm. The arm was small, humanlike but ending in three wicked sharp claws and covered in sickly green scales.

"Private O'brien?" intoned Captain Maria.

O'brien, the second and last human of the troop stepped forward and took the arm from his fellow soldier. The visor that served as his eyes both in and out of missions lit up. "Got it." A holographic image appeared in front of the soldiers' visors; depicting a small creature roughly two-and-a-half feet tall with short stubby legs but long arms like an ape's. Its head was squatted like a frogs but it had large ears like that of a bat. "It's a gremlin."

"Fuck…" cursed Maria, glaring at the arm as the image vanished as quickly as it came. "Of all the monsterra…"

* * *

**GREMLIN**

_Type: _E-Class Darkstalker

Alone, a gremlin is a mere nuisance, the housefly of the monsterra world. However, in greater numbers, they unleash an unholy terror upon whatever land they're ravaging, particular if delicate machinery decorate said environment. Gremlins are referred to as the rabbits of the Darkstalker breed of monsterra for their ability to multiply with the slightest drop of water.

* * *

Maria reached up to her visor and twisted the settings about until green blood shined like neon signs in the darkness. She followed the trail and cursed, chasing after it as her soldiers followed her. "It's heading for the cooling tanks!" The reploids of her troop seemed to nod as one to her unspoken command and rushed ahead of her and O'brien. They turned a sharp corner and disappeared from sight.

Their screams echoed after them, lost in a roar that shook the earth.

"Shit!" Maria pressed her back to the wall as O'brien did the same behind her as laser fire lit up the street. She watched the shadows of her men firing on something that was definitely NOT a gremlin. Her visor paused on the better picture of the monsterra's shadow, a sickening image of it tearing one her men in two like he was made of flesh and bone, not titanium and cold iron. Beside the paused image of the shadow, an energy marker was jumping about wildly, trying to get an accurate range of the creature's level when it finally paused as its image spun slowly in front of her eyes.

It was the exact of the gremlin in a lot of ways. It was tall, measured at least seven feet by the visor's estimates, and was far more muscular than the spindly gremlin. He, for it was distinctly a male, wore nothing but a loin cloth made up of hair and fur. His head was covered in a small mop of red hair with two snail-like ears sticking from the top of his head.

"Oh fuck…" cursed Maria, her grip tightening on her gun. "It's an ogre."

* * *

**OGRE**

_Type: _C-Class Darkstalker

Ogres are one of the most dangerous of C-Class monsterra for their sheer strength and overall bad attitude. Quite docile when left to their own devices, ogres become maddened beasts whenever their "territory" is invaded. Unfortunately, their territory changes quite often as ogres have poor mental facilties and suffer from short-term memory loss. Their lack of intelligence is all that separates Ogres from the higher classes for they can easily tear a reploid in two without breaking a sweat.

* * *

"I am unable to gain a signal lock, Captain." O'brien whispered into his headset, his voice being heard as though he were whispering right into her ear thanks to their helmets' systems.

"What?" She hissed back, looking skyward as she attempted to find a signal lock of her own and matched the cyborg's success. "That's impossible."

"Cap… tain…" The pair turned and saw on of the reploid soldier had made it back, missing an arm and leaking artificial body fluids. The fluids could serve to maintain a human body but to the flesh eaters and blood drinkers of the monsterra, it was like finding your beef was replaced with dirt. "We… will hold it off… Run…"

Maria scowled, her teeth clenched tight as her grip on her gun. She might have little love for their kind but reploid or human, she would not run while her team was being slaughtered! "Your breaking rank, Private!"

"So-Sorry… but the Third Law dictates… that your and O'brien's survival… is all that matters now…" A small cube dropped from the reploid soldier's remaining hand. It landed on the street with a hush ping before a rectangular field enveloped Maria and O'brien. The troop captain cursed, firing at the field with her gun only for the energy bullets to be absorbed into it. Private nodded and fell lifelessly to the ground, his duty complete. The field would hold until reinforcements arrived.

The chances of them making it were slim, made slimmer by the vile little Darkstalker currently trying, and failing, at disrupting the shield generator. Maria seethed at the gremlin even as it did the same to her. Lacking an arm, its wound still bleeding, there was only so much it could do short of bringing the ogre's attention to them and even it wasn't that stupid. Maria and O'brien could not break the shield from inside and they couldn't scare off the gremlin without attracting the ogre's attention.

All in all, it was a lose-lose situation.

There was a faint sound of metal clashing against metal and the gremlin looked down, thinking it had succeeded in breaking the portable generator.

That would be its last cohesive thought.

From the darkness shot out a pair of chains that wrapped tight around the gremlin's neck, cutting off its ability to breathe before it was pulled off its feet into the shadows. A lithe young form of a boy could just barely be seen in the darkness, even with the aid of the visors. From his height and stature, Maria guessed him to be at least teenaged in appearance but to be invisible even to the eyes of her military gear…

He couldn't be human.

The boy's hand was tight on the gremlin's neck, which he broke with an audible crunch. He tossed the corpse to the ground, hard enough to break the spine. The gremlin's body lit up in emerald fire before it fell to ash on the wind, its soul floating above where its body had been tossed in obvious confusion. Something whizzed past Maria's face, mechanical wings just skimming the surface of the force field, moving at speeds that blurred in the human eye but to O'brien, it was clear as though it was moving in slow motion.

A screen capture of the thing appeared in Maria's visor. '_A mechaniloid?_' She thought before shaking her head. '_No… Cyberdynne's never made anything THAT small…_' But what else could it be for surely it was more than a mechanical bat that appeared better as a form of decoration than anything else. Colored in shades of red, black, and dark amber, the mechanical bat could easily blend in with the dark and so struck its prey with ease.

The Dark Soul was swallowed in a swift bite before the robotic bat flew to the boy and deposited something in his hands. Maria tried to zoom in on it when the ground shook beneath her feet. Her spine seemed to stiffen as she slowly turned her attention to the slowly advancing ogre whose eyes were fortunately not upon her and O'brien.

"Meat…?" The abnormally large Darkstalker rumbled, his piglike snout sniffing at the air before his beady eyes widened with elation. "Souls!"

"Too easy." Maria turned her head sharply ready to yell at the boy for drawing the creature's attention when she realized it wasn't he that had spoken, but the bat. Though small in stature, the robotic creature spoke with the voice of an adult man who had seen enough of the world's madness to be pushed to the very brink. His robotic eyes shined amber as he leaned forward on the boy's shoulder. "Only a C-class… and here I was hoping we could… stretch our wings."

"Aluc," the boy whispered, his voice distorted as though it was more than person speaking. One voice sounded young, carefree while the other sounded darker, rougher. He pocketed whatever the bat, Aluc, had given him.

"Fine, then," sighed Aluc. He eyed the boy beside him. "Ready?"

"Shut up and do it."

"As you wish, 'Master'…!" A small robotic jaw spread wide, revealing four gleaming fangs of steel and ivory before they bit down on the boy's neck. A sudden flash of light and the sound of steel chains and there was a strange belt now adorning the boy's waist with a buckle not unlike a bat's roost. The boy gripped Aluc tightly and placed him on the roost of his belt.

"Unlock!" Chains surrounded the boy, covering him from sight before shattering like glass. Maria and O'brien both cried out in pained shock as their visors nearly exploded with the sudden intense spike of youki, demon energy, coming from the transformed youth who now stepped fully into the dim light of the district streetlamps.

He wore an obsidian bodysuit made of a leatherlike material while his armor was, for the most part, made of a shining silver, a stark contrast to his nature and power, except for his chest which was colored a dark red like the muscles of a human chest cavity. The rest of his torso armor was bulky, especially about the shoulders where they were made to resemble clawed hands spread like the wings of a bat. Both of his gauntlets looked as though they were locked in place made all the more obvious by the thick chains that were wrapped around them. His helmet's visor was shaped like that of a bat's or perhaps the fangs of one, it was hard to tell the difference though as they were a vibrant shade of gold. A small crown like a crescent moon marked the helmet's brow and the mouthpiece was looked like a pair of vicious claws were holding it to the helmet. As a finishing touch, there was a small topknot of blood-red hair at the back of the black helmet.

Maria felt her heart stop in her chest and she knew that O'brien was feeling the exact same though she dared not look away from what was standing before the ogre. It was something out of legends of the Past-That-Was, something that even the great and powerful Cyberdynne Corporation failed to recreate in the century since.

"What you?" grunted the ogre, tilting his head in confusion. "Durahan?"

Maria shook her head at the monsterra's stupidity. '_No, nothing of the sort. This is something more powerful than any monsterra could ever be…_

'_A Kamen Rider…_'

The reply from the Rider was a swift and powerful punch to the ogre's face, that made it meet painfully with the unforgiving concrete. "I am no mere monsterra, beast." Like before, he spoke with a duality of voices. He bowed his head as if he were sad. "You've lost your place in this world."

The ogre roared with a feral rage and tried to grab him in a tight grip but the Rider met him hand-to-hand, doing the impossible by meeting and pushing the ogre back into a streetlamp that toppled back under their combined force. The ogre screamed in anger, tightening his grip only to be pulled down to the asphalt once more. The Rider stood back and pulled a strange glasslike whistle from a side pocket built into the belt. Aside from the mouthpiece, the clear Crystle held a red colored end that resembled a hellish bat. He placed the whistle to his mouth and blew.

"_Savage Bite!_" A shrill cry like a predator on the prowl came from Aluc as he launched himself from his perch and flew in tight circles around the Rider's arms, cutting the chains with his sharp wings before resting once more upon the belt. The Rider stooped forward, spreading his arms out to his side as though he were preparing to fly as the chains shattered and the silver gauntlets peeled back into themselves, vanishing from sight.

The gauntlets were now a matching red to the Rider's torso with three glowing crystals along their length colored blue, purple, and green respectively. The crystals shined brighter as the Rider shot forward, flying over the ground with a ferocious cry, "_Blood Moon!_"

The ogre had just rised to his feet once more and was hit heavily in his meaty torso by the vicious one-two punch from the Rider. The Darkstalker flew back into the wall of a building as a crater not unlike the shape of the Rider's helmet appeared behind it. It groaned loudly before it slumped to the ground, bursting into flames before a Dark Soul tried to fly off amidst the cloud of ashes.

Aluc was quicker and had overtaken the Soul with ease and returned to the Rider's waiting hand with a pleased air before he deposited a small gem color not unlike the ogre's tough skin in his palm.

'_A Soul Gem!_' Maria gaped in open astonishment. She stared long and hard at the mechanical bat. '_Only the Maverick Hunters are allowed to carry that tech and even then it's much bigger! Where did he get it?_' She started when she realized the eyes of Aluc and the Rider were upon her.

The Rider held up a hand, palm facing the two humans. "_Sonic Swarming._" A shrill explosion of sonic waves and the two soldiers knew no more.

* * *

"Oh… my head…" moaned Maria, slowly placing a hand to her forehead, surprised at the feeling of bandages. "W-What…?"

"Captain Maria?" A small form hovered over her, a tiny creature shaped like a human but bedecked with techno-organic wings. She was dressed in a nurse's uniform and as she looked around the small room, Maria recognized the walls of the Medical-D Center and the smell of burning ozone that accompanied a freshly made BioEmergance Field. "How are you feeling?" asked the Cyber-Elf, Melo-D according to her name-tag.

* * *

**CYBER-ELF**

_Type: _D-Class Lightwalker

A strange form of monsterra that are more like computer aid programs than actual life-forms as they possess no actual body outside of cyber-space or a BioEmergance Field. Cyber-Elves are used for a variety of purposes inside Reploids and Mechaniloids but their primary function is to ensure the 'loid in question doesn't go Maverick. A precious few are adept at the healing arts and so are restricted entirely to the Medical-D Center to heal humans and reploids alike.

* * *

"Just… peachy…" she groaned. "What happened?"

"Actually…" Melo-D sounded strangely reluctant as she hovered by Maria's bedside. "We were hoping you could tell us. Your troop vanished from the field grid so suddenly the Board thought you dead until the signal dishes in the Ice District suddenly came back online and Hunter Fenri was able to find you and Private O'brien."

"We…" Maria growled and pressed her hand tight to her forehead. "We were attacked by something…"

"By all evidence a very powerful something, an orge to be precise," chirped Melo-D, looking down at her pint-sized data pad for confirmation's sake. "There were also traces of gremlin blood but no other signs of it or the orge. There was a lot of damage done that I'm sure will keep the mechaniloids happy but the only signs left of the gremlin and the ogre were piles of ash. Do you remember anything that happened, Captain Maria? Specifically what could have killed a full-grown ogre so easily?"

"I—…" Maria shook her head, struggling to remember. "A… durahan?"

"A durahan?" repeated Melo-D, sounding quite disbelieving. "A B-Class Darkstalker, Captain? One that killed not one but two of its mutual kin and left you and O'brien alive?"

Maria growled angrily at the elfling that made the cyber-elf flutter back in fear. "Th-That is to say… all's quite possible nowadays! I'm sure your memory will come back with some good rest. I'll be back to see how your ears are doing later, Captain Maria."

"Wait, hold on! What about my ears?"

"Um, well, your ear-drums had been ruptured by something utilizing ultrasonic waves. Several windows in the area you and O'brien were found will need replacing…" Maria didn't have anything to say to that and Melo-D didn't wait for her to do so. The little Lightwalker flitted through the open doorway and slowly flew down the long hallway with a pleased smile. It wasn't often she got to BioEmerge so she would enjoy it while the effects last. She hummed merrily past a young teenaged boy that was walking the opposite way, a small bag of "borrowed" medical gloves and mask in his hands.

The boy quirked an eyebrow at the strange antics of the cyber-elf but was otherwise glad for her distraction as he continued on his way. He was dressed in the usual casual wear that most teenagers, human or reploid, preferred though his own were colored in strangely matching hues of forest green and russet red. His hair was black with faint hints of turquoise if the light hit it just right and his eyes were a dull brown, almost black. He passed by Maria's room but paused and stepped back to glance inside.

Seeing her otherwise unhurt and asleep, he smiled before continuing on his way. Attached to his belt were two small keychains with tiny little shapes dangling in opposing colors and designs. One was a small bat with big red eyes and a vicious smirk on its little face. The other was better described in three simple words.

A crescent moon.

* * *

"So… after all these years, a new player has entered the field." Chuckling within the darkness as a massive checker board rises up. A flash of light and several distinct pieces are added to the playing field with the last piece to arrive being the Rider himself. A hand reaches out to hover over the piece, shining eyes staring down upon the frozen image of the Rider.

"Let's see how well you live up to our expectations… Tsukiyo…"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

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Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE**

_The World as We Know It_


	2. The World as We Know It

**

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DISCLAIMER: I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.  
**

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**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_The World as We Know It_

_"My name… is Daini Sotsu… I was raised in the Metal District in New Eden of the Eastern Plains of Chalice on Neo-Urth, the bitch's new name for our world… In the beginning… I had no idea of the fate of my parents or what I was born to do. I only had my guardians to raise me, to prepare me… for my destiny…"_

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Morning in the city of New Eden was not unusual in itself in that the sun was always there to rise and always there to fall on the day's end. Whether or not one could live long enough to see it was a virtual guarantee for citizens of the high tech utopia. At least, those who stayed near the center's center and far from the border districts. Those who didn't were trained professionals, soldiers trained to hunt in the darkness and those who reveled in it. Thankfully, the residential areas of the Metal District were as far as one could be from the outskirts of the massive city. It was overall, a peaceful morning all considering.

"_Bubble Spray_."

How quick that was to change.

A spray of water hit the sleeping boy straight in the face, startling him awake and knocking him clear off his bed. He fell to the floor with an audible thud and a rather undignified yelp of surprise.

"If you don't hurry and get ready, you'll be late for class Daini."

Daini Sotsu, better reffered to as Dai, groaned and pushed himself up from the floor to spare his guardian a withering glare despite the deep black bangs that fell into his equally dark brown orbs. "I don't see why I need bother with them when I know more then the entire lot of them put together. I'd make better use of my time studying in the library."

His guardian tsked, waving a long finger at the boy. "Need I remind you that a boy your age should be outside rather than cooped up in some metallic monstrosity as this." He turned and walked off, calling over his shoulder, "Emily's prepared breakfast so you best be prepared for a fight."

Dai stared after him for a long moment before diving headfirst into his closet. Of his strange family, only Emily could cook anything worth eating and it was an all-out brawl at times to get whatever she made, particularly when her big little brother was involved.

From the rafters above his bed, a pair of gleaming red eyes opened, wearily glaring down at the noise the teenaged boy was making as he fumbled about in his closet for clothes. Grumbling, the little figure pushes himself further into the darkness above, away from the light of the open window. "It's too early for this shit…"

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Daini repressed the urge to sigh as another passerby stared at his weird ensemble. While he was dressed in everyday wear typical for a teenaged boy, it his accessorys that drew their stares of ridicule and concern. A doctor's mask and gloves looked fine and dandy in a hospital, but not real well outside of it.

"Allergies giving you trouble again?"

Dai smiled softly beneath his mask and glanced down at the small reploid walking beside him towards the School. Though many years his junior in age, the young reploid girl had quite a spark of intelligence, pun nonintended, and was in the same class as him though she was, and likely always be, barely knee-high to him. Unlike most of the reploids who attended the School, she was one of the "beast" types, a reploid made in the shape of earth's near forgotten animals. In other words, a bioid.

"As always, Hedgeshock…" Dai said to the hedgehog-styled reploid who shook her head in sympathy.

"Man, I'm glad us reploids can't get sick." Hedgeshock nodded with an air of smug sastifaction as she crossed her small sparkplug-like arms across her chest.

"Then what about that time when you got magnetized and had all those—"

"Dai!" screeched Hedgeshock, her quills sparking with embarrassment. "Don't remind me! Brrr!"

"Go talk to Panter over in the Lightning District, he can tell you some stories I guarantee." The pair looked upwards and stared in wide-eyed shock along with anyone else close enough to have heard the voice or catch sight of the one speaking it.

"Hunter Vulturon?!" gasped Hedgeshock in surprise while a crowd gathered around her and Dai as they stared up at the vulture-like reploid hanging by the claws of his hands and feet along the wall of the building beside them. Daini felt a cold bead of sweat drop down the back of his neck. What was one of New Eden's top Maverick Hunters doing here? True, Vulturon shared responsibility over the Metal District with his partner aviator Hivolt but the two often kept well-above the grounded pedestrians of the city and avoided any of the flyers.

Vulturon pulled out his guitar and, hanging by the claws of his feet, strummed a few chords, smirking as some of the ladies gushed at the melody. "Well, I was on my patrol when who should I see but ol' Pegasolt's little pride and joy. How can I not drop down and say 'howdy'?"

Anything else to be said was halted as a dark shadow fell over the crowd, drawing all eyes towards the heavens as a darkly hushed silence fell over the Metal District. High above the city, a massive tower floated alongside the clouds at heights only the best of flyers dared to make, not that any dared to go near the Wind District.

"What's going on?" whispered Hedgeshock, shuffling closer to Dai as she stared fearfully up at the tower. "What's the Wind District doing here? It's never come near the Metal District before."

Vulturon stared up at the tower in silence, watching and waiting until its massive shadow moved past them before turning his attention back to the crowd. "Hate to break it to ya but the show's over folks. Times a wastin' and I've got to get back to patrol. See ya." Shouldering his guitar, Vulturon spread his arms wide as holo-wings spread between their spines. With a small woosh of propulsive energy, the vulture-like reploid was up and out-of-sight in moments.

Their source of attention gone with the wind, the crowd slowly begun to disperse, casting distrusting eyes to the skies, until only Dai and Hedgeshock were left watching the floating tower move slowly over New Eden.

"I don't like this, Dai, I don't, I don't." Hedgeshock shook her head, her quills quivering. "What could the Dragon's Keep being doing this far into the city? You don't think—"

"Hush, Hedge." Dai spoke sharply to the young reploid. "You know better than to call it that. Bad enough we've one of Her generals above our heads, the last thing we want to do is attract the Overlord's attention to us."

"Ye-Yeah…" Hedgeshock was shaking with fear at the thought of the Eastern Plains of Chalice, and by that definition New Eden's, Overlord the Dread Dragoon, Quad Blau.

Daini's trepidation however, was not on the Overlord's tower nor its strange new course of circling above the city. His concern laid in Vulturon and the other Hunters. Dai knew for a solid fact that any one of Maverick Hunters rarely patrolled during the day. There were the top of their game, the best of all the Hunters of New Eden, their time and energy was spent during the night, close to the city's borders to better keep out whatever manner of Darkstalker that dared to try and enter the safety of New Eden. There were few reasons that one of the elite was out in the day but before Dai could even begin to speculate, the answer came to him with the shrill of the alert sirens as the streetlamps blazed red.

"ALERT. ALERT. MAVERICK SIGNAL DETECTED WITHIN THE METAL DISTRICT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. MAVERICK SIGNAL DETECTED WITHIN THE METAL DISTRICT."

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Maverick. One of the most profound words to any sentient creature of Neo Urth, particularly those who dwell in the security of New Eden in the Eastern Plains of Chalice. There are many things to fear in New Eden, the evil of monsterra, Darkstalkers, and threat of invasion is far from one's thoughts nor the circling tower above the city and who dwells in it, or more specifically, who rules over them.

Nearly one hundred years have passed since the Past-that-Was had become a forgotten dream and humanity has strived long and hard to survive in the twisted world their planet has become. Alone, they were weak, afraid, dying like cattle to the Darkstalkers who feasted on blood and soul, finding only in the rare Lightwalkers that shared Neo Urth with their wicked cousins..

Until Cyberdynne Corporation and the gates of New Eden opened. Humans had to learn quickly that they were no longer the dominant species, but not nearly as fast as they had to learn to coexist with the city's guardians and first citizens.

The reploids.

The most advanced of robotics, reploids were alive in every strict sense of the word. Yes, they were designed and created through artificial means but they were not immortal nor were they without their own vices. They had to feed just like humans, they had to rest… The gynoid series of reploids, those who were human in shape and design, could even reproduce with themselves and humans. They who were born of reploid and human parents became known as humeloids and though they are low in number compared to the humans who sired them, it seemed that man's destiny was to die out and be forgotten.

Reploids of the bioid series, those based on creatures of fact or fiction, are incapable of reproducing, a stark contrast to the numerous gynoid series. However, when a new bioid reploid is created, it would often be officially adopted by another reploid of a similar elemental prowess and form. No matter the body, family is family when it comes to a reploids' affections.

For like the humans they are programmed to protect, reploids can be both good and evil. Yes, there are numerous safeguards to protect them from such a fall from grace, anything set in stone is liable to break in time. In the last several years, a new type of concern has arisen for reploid-kind.

The Stigma Virus.

A deadly computer virus, the Stigma is completely incurable and capable of rewriting a reploid's SOUL down to the last program, changing even the best of them into literal machines of berserker-like destruction. The Three Laws become null and void to them and most actively seek out ways to break them. They who become infected are called Mavericks, for they have no rhyme nor reason for attacking, only what the virus and their darker thoughts command of them to do.

For many of the Hunters, the choice between Maverick and Darkstalker is an obvious one. They'd gladly face the strongest A-Class than the weakest of Mavericks for it is not the Darkstalkers who wear the faces of their friends.

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Vulturon cursed the Maker as he rolled out of the way of another laser that woud have impaled him straight in the head. Scraps of metal metal and broken pieces of pantheon drones littered the area around the Hunter, lowering his combat effectiveness by a good thirty percent. Vulturon Condorock was a close-ranged fighter when the need pressed for it but he preferred sticking out of the battlefield to command the pantheon drones to their full effectiveness.

Whatever full effectiveness could be gained from the aptly nicknamed cannon-fodder mechaniloids!

Vulturon's jets activated and he flew straight up into the air, taking a firm grip on the wall and hanging above the Maverick's shooting range. "_This isn't good, we should call for backup, Vulturon._"

The reploid's optics rolled in his birdlike head. Useful as they were, cyber-elves seemed more of a hassle than their worth to him. "No shit." He grumbled, pressing a claw to his Hunter's badge on his chest. "This is Vulturon Condorock calling all Maverick Hunters, I'm on top of the Maverick." Vulturon squawked and climbed higher as an energy bolt nearly got him between the legs. "I could use a full band down here!"

Nothing but static.

"_The Golem seems to have infected the satellite systems in the immediate area. I can't even access Cyberspace._"

"Great." Vulturon laughed mirthlessly. "What else could happen?" Bad enough that the Maverick had to be a mechaniloid, it had to be a golem model, one of the strongest mechaniloids Cyberdynne's ever made.

A silent alarm went off in Vulturon's head and he nearly fell off from his perch. "What now?!"

"_I'm detecting a strong energy field approaching from the southeast._" Vulturon perked his head up at his cyber-elf's words.

"Reinforcements?"

"_No… it's not any kind of energy field I've ever seen before… it's_" Vulturon suddenly felt the little Lightwalker's surprise. "_It's right behind us!_"

Vulturon's jets activated none too soon as the wall he was hanging from exploded outwards with a sonic explosion. The Maverick Golem stopped its wild assault and turned its head upwards, staring at the figure standing in the hole he had made. Vulturon flew over to the opposite wall, staring at the armored warrior standing there without concern for the destruction his entrance caused.

"What… what the hell is that?!" Vulturon squawked.

"_If… If I didn't know any better…_" His cyber-elf whispered. "_I'd swear it was a…_"

"DaRkStAlKeR…?" intoned the Maverick Golem, its eyes blazing in random hues of red and white.

"Close, but I'm afraid you're far off." Tsukiyo whispered, too quietly to be heard, "Count up your sins. _Sonic Swarming_." He aimed his clawed hands down at the Maverick Golem, unleashing a massive sonic wave down upon the mechaniloid who stood firm against the powerful attack though the windows in the immediate area shattered to pieces.

Vulturon felt his lower beak almost fall off at the sight. Even at full power, he could never create a sonic attack as powerful as that and here this, this interloper was doing it with his bare hands!

With a tired sigh, Tsukiyo lowered his hands, ceasing the attack. "No good," he said in his strange duality of voices. "Looks like you're up after all, Aluc."

"You're sure?" asked the mechanical bat as he lifted off from his perch on Tsukiyo's belt to hover beside his partner. "You can only use it once during the light of day, remember."

"Just do it." Tsukiyo pulled out the Blood Crystle and blew it with a predator's cry.

"As you command, my master." Aluc flew in tight circles around the Tsukiyo's forearms, cutting the chains with his sharp wings. "_Savage Bite!_" The chains shattered like stainglass as Tsukiyo stooped forward, spreading his arms out to his side like wings. The three glowing crystals imbedded on his Moon Pawn Gauntlets shined brightly as day became night and a shining crescent moon appeared behind and above the Dark Rider.

Tsukiyo shot himself downward, pulling back his right fist as far as he could go as he became enveloped in a red shroud of light. "_Blood Moon!_" An explosion of red light and a mechanical scream of agony before the entire street was engulfed in a small explosion of light.

Vulturon covered his eyes away from the blinding light before slowly lowering his long arm down to stare down at the devastation Tsukiyo's attack. There was nothing left of the Maverick Golem but pieces best left to the scrap piles resting in a crater shaped much like the mark that adorned Tsukiyo's forehead. Night turned instantly to day as Tsukiyo slowly overlooked the damage with a satisfied air before turning his back on the destruction and slowly walking into a shadowed alleyway.

Vulturon's senses came back to him and he leapt down to land right in front of Tsukiyo, standing between him and the welcoming shadows. "You, who are you?!" Vulturon leveled his guitar with Tsukiyo's chin. The Dark Rider stared at him in silence.

"I am Kamen Rider Tsukiyo." He seemed almost amused with the reploid's actions.

"Kamen Rider?" spat Vulturon, angry with the Dark Rider's attitude. "There are no Kamen Riders!"

"So you say." Tsukiyo made to move past Vulturon but the bioid raised his guitar higher, the axe-shaped base glowing with energy.

"Back up and put your hands in the air!"

"Alright." Tsukiyo calmly raised his hands up. In that instant, Vulturon realized his mistake but it was already too late. "_Sonic Swarming._" A blast of sonic waves knocked Vulturon head over metallic tail-feathers and by the time the world stopped ringing with the force of church bells, Tsukiyo was gone.

"Aw man… I know I'm going to get in trouble for this…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daini coughed painfully over the sink, struggling to breathe properly before he quickly washed his face in water and tied his facemask back on. He breathed slowly in-and-out, before he unclasped the choker on his neck and placed it away in his backpack. He left the washroom, massaging his neck and swallowed painfully. "This is beginning to become rather cobersome…"

"There you are!" A flash of yellow and Hedgeshock was by his side. "Where the heck did you go, Dai?! You know you're not supposed to leave the shelter!"

"Hedge…" Dai pointed wordlessly to the sign beside him. Hedgeshock looked at it and felt the plates on her faces warm with heat.

"Oh… well, you should have gone when you were at home! Man, I've said it before and I'll say it again—"

"You just love being a bioid reploid," Daini chuckled; patting the small bioid on the head, thankful for his rubber gloves otherwise he'd be shocked by the electricity generators in her quills. "So, think we should take the risk of going to school?"

"School? Oh no, I forgot all about that! C'mon we got getting juicin'!" Hedgeshock took off quickly, leaving a sparking trail behind her. Daini shook his head but quickly followed after her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You've surprised me, Tsukiyo…" Pale blue eyes crinkled in amusement, taking the chess piece of the Maverick Golem off from the board and moving Tsukiyo's piece forward a square. A sickle-like claw scratched the small figurine's brow, humming softly under his breath. "You're bolder than I expected you to be…" Icy orbs fell upon one of the board's pieces. The piece moved to rest before Tsukyio, blocking his advance. "Now… let us see your savagery."

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

**

* * *

Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE**

_Howl of the Ravaging Beast_

…


	3. Howl of the Ravaging Beast

**DISCLAIMER:** I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.

* * *

**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Howl of the Ravaging Beast_

"_I was raised to keep my real self hidden behind a mask, to show the world what it expected to see from a boy afflicted with constant sickness… but even with all the self-control I had… There were times I just had to let it out… let the monster within me run loose in all its noble savagery._"

* * *

New Eden was by no means the only human settlement on Neo-Urth, but it was by far the safest, and largest, in existence. Protected by a special fusion between force-field and holographic imagery, New Eden appears as nothing but endless plains to anything with the smallest amount of demonic energy in their body. With robotic defenders on guard 24/7, it's hard to imagine that any kind of Darkstalker monsterra could make its way into the city at all.

Sad to say, New Eden's strength is also its biggest weakness. The city encompasses nearly all of the Eastern Plains of Chalice and despite the shield protecting it from sight, even the weakest of Darkstalkers can smell the overwhelming stench of human blood and souls. More so than the stench of humankind, it is the stench of Lightwalkers that further draw the Darkstalkers to New Eden. Because of their opposing natures, the two breeds of monsterra cannot stand each other but it is always the Darkstalkers that go particularly out of the way to hunt and slay their light-orientated cousins.

Thankfully, the shield keeps most of the higher-ranked Darkstalkers from entering the city, but like a net, some of the smaller ones always manage to slip through. This in itself wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that the little fish often end up big and dangerous with the proper amount of food.

And food was plentiful in New Eden's populace…

* * *

It was night, the stars shining brightly above Alyssa as she walked at a brisque pace in the tunnels of the Earth District. Today was the miner's weekly duty of 'fool searching'. The mines of New Eden were where many of the metals and rare minerals for the city were found and digged up to be used by the city's populace, but the cruelly nicknamed 'Mudpit' often drew in the occasional student citizen who'd enter the mines on a dare or a whim despite that only the miners themselves knew how to navigate in the labyrinth of tunnels.

Though she was one in a team of people searching through the tunnels, that didn't appease Alyssa's sense of urgency in getting the job done quickly as possible. Having been directed down towards the eastern side, all that Alyssa had with her was a lantern and her trusty pick-axe, not good odds in case she ran into bad odds.

"_This is Bart, I've got nothing on the west side. Anyone else got anything._" She paused and pressed a finger to her helmet, setting her pick-axe down.

"Alyssa reporting, I'm nearly done but so far, there's nothing down here but dust and dirt. Over," she replied.

"_Sam here. Everything's shiny over in the south side. Over._"

"_Bill responding… I think I've got somebody on my end… Oh my god!_" A bestial roar screamed loudly in Alyssa's ears and she nearly through her helmet away as Bill's screams rang loudly in the tunnel as the sound of bloodied violence came through the radio.

"Bill!" screamed Alyssa. "We've got to help him!"

"_No! You know the drill, Alyssa, get out the tunnels!_" spoke Bart, his running footsteps echoing over the radio.

"But—"

"_Run damn it! We've got to get a signal out to the Hunters before that thing gets into the city!_"

"_Aagh!_"

"Sam!" gasped Alyssa.

"_Damn it, run Alyssa! Run! I'm going to get it to chase me, and when it does, you run you hear me?_"

"What? No, I'm not leaving without you!"

"_You will if you want to live, damn it!_" The lights of the tunnels flashed on and a horrible roar echoed from the northern tunnels. "_RUN ALYSSA! RUUUUUUN!_"

* * *

_Three Days Later…_

"This is the seventh body in the last seventy-two hours, brother." Pale red optics turned to the reploid standing opposite of them, a hercules-beetle bioid by name of Herculious Anchortus. The red-colored Maverick Hunter nodded impassively to his brother and co-Guardian of the Wood District, Kuwagust Anchus. Like his brother, Kuwagust resembled a beetle, a kuwagata beetle to be specific, and was colored in shades of sky blue to his brother's crimson red.

"Though, to be fair, it is nothing but livestock…" muttered Kuwagust, giving the small body a light nudge with his foot.

"Life is still a life, brother, and it was a life under our protection." Herculious crouched down and gently picked up the small body in his four arms. "This doe was young yet and might have had many a child. A moment of silence, if you please…"

Brothers Beetle bowed their heads, ignoring the noise made by the Hunters sweeping the scene for evidence. One such Hunter hesitantly approached the pair of Maverick Hunters, waiting in silence until they were finished.

Kuwagust turned to regard the soldier. "What is it private?"

"Sirs, we've found something…" The soldier held up a fang long than his forearm with a hollowed center. Herculious wordlessly took the fang and held it over the dead doe's neck, his optics analyzing it to the smallest detail before sending the schematics to his brother who, in turn, sent his cyber-elf partner through into Cyberspace to search the Gaia Library for whatever was the cause behind the attack.

"Saff-Ron should be back in five minutes brother…" Kuwagust said. "It's obviously a bloodsucker but…"

"How many of them _aren't_ bloodsuckers, brother?" returned Herculious as he carefully set the body back down. "Four dead in the Earth District and now three here in the Wood District…"

"Do you think there will be another victim, brother?" asked Kuwagust, scanning the area for any remaining herds still out in the open.

Herculious shook his horned head. "Unlikely. The farmers are already penning up the herds and the Unicorns have agreed to stand guard over them until we slay this thing."

"Think it will continue heading towards the Water District?" asked Kuwagust, looking towards the center of New Eden where its massive lake resided.

Herculious shrugged. "Doubtful. If it's a bloodsucker, not much to do with fish and the like." He looked to his brother. "Perhaps it might not be a Darkstalker at all."

Kuwagust's optics narrowed. "You don't think it's Vulturon's "Rider" do you? Nevermind that there hasn't been a true Rider since Her takeover, what makes you think he would do something like this?"

"The eggheads over at Cyberdynne Central took a better analysis of that guy's energy levels, better than what the cyber-elves could see at any rate. They only managed to get a fifty percent readout but what they found was enough.

"It was youki, the energies of a Darkstalker."

* * *

"Oof!" Daini landed hard on his back, the breath knocked out of him.

"Get up, pup. We're not done yet." Daini groaned and looked up at his sensei/guardian, known simply as Gallon. The man looked like he was in his mid-twenties though he was easily far older than that as was obvious with his mane of white hair that held a slight bluish tint in it. He wore a dark purple hakama tied with a black belt marked as shodan and no gi, displaying the muscles he rightfully earned through hardship and training.

In contrast, Daini was wearing a black gi with a red hakama tied with a purple belt with a white stripe. Unlike his sensei, Dai was panting for air and dripping with sweat and fatigue as he rose shakily to his feet. For his part, Gallon looked only slightly tired but then again, he was playing on the defensive for the better part of the last several hours of the day's lessons.

"While I'm young, pup."

Daini's eyes narrowed before he slowly stood straight and proud, the brown of his eyes brightening to a vibrant shade of red as the turquoise of his otherwise black hair brightened considerably. He charged forward, fists and feet flying at impossible speeds but in a single blow, Gallon put him back to the floor with his foot pressing down on Daini's head.

"Get ahold of yourself, cub!" growled Gallon, pressing down harder at Daini's answering growl. "Listen to your instincts but don't let them control you!"

Daini's growling ceased and a faint shudder ran through him. He sighed. "Damn… I thought I nearly had it…"

Gallon stepped back and fell to the floor with his legs crossed before him, leaning forward inquisitively at his young charge. "You managed a small essence of it, but not the whole. Of that you should be grateful to have achieved at all at your current level."

"I should be stronger than this though! I need to be stronger than this!" argued Daini, pushing himself up from the floor to sit before his sensei.

"You do need to be stronger, but to attain such strength one has to work for it." Gallon's eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't spend too much time out there in the city."

"What? Why not?" asked Daini in surprise. Of his guardians, Gallon was the most vocal in allowing Daini to attend public school, nay to go outside at all and now he was changing his mind?

"You are nearly sixteen years old. Your heritage will only be making itself known the more you try and cover it up. Soon, you won't be able to handle the stink of this god-forsaken city." Gallon growled.

Daini had nothing to say to that, nor was he given the chance to as a faint tune began to play. His eyes narrowed as he jumped to his feet, recognizing the tune for what it was. He ran out of the dojo without so much as a backwards glance at his sensei.

Gallon stared after his student in silence before shaking his head and pushing himself to his feet. "Such a tempermental pup… he's your son alright…"

* * *

Herculious knelt down and picked up the empty plastic bag. Once filled with blood the bag was now complete dry, its fluid sucked from with it hollowed fangs. His brother wasn't with him in the darkened hallways of New Eden Hospital, his blades being too wide to safely navigate the tight corners and thin halls of the hospital. Besides, someone had to be outside in case the thing managed to sneak past him.

Herculious tossed the bag away, leaving the destroyed emergency blood supply room behind him. "_Did we get everyone out?_" He radioed his brother through their cyber-elves.

"_All patients have been rounded up, no one's missing except…_" Herculious paused. His brother was never hesitant in anything, not unless he knew it would anger him.

"_Unless WHAT Kuwagust?_"

"_I… The doctors reported that Doctor Ciel went back for her research on the Stigma virus… she hasn't come out._"

"DAMN IT!" Herculious slammed a pair of fists to the wall on his right. Of all the doctors to go and do something so stupidly heroic! "_What floor?_"

"_Fourth._"

"_Roger. Over and out._" Herculious' crouched low as lightning arced between the horn on his head and the two on his shoulders before he leapt upwards through ceiling after ceiling until he landed on the fourth floor. His optics flared blue as he slowly walked forward, mindful of his heavy footsteps on the now destabilized floor. He didn't care if the Darkstalker heard him or not. Better it be distracted running to or away from him than making a meal out of Doctor Ciel.

The sound of crashing walls and a shrill scream echoed in the halls followed by a beastial roar. Cursing loudly, Herculios started running even as his cyber-elf pulled up the blueprints of the hospital, guiding him to where the scream came from. It took time, far more than Herculios would have wanted. The door was locked from the inside but Herculious could hear the sound of heartbeats within and with little hesitation tore the door loose from its foundations only to stare in horror at the sight before him.

Doctor Ciel was on the ground unconscious, or so he prayed for she was pale as fresh milk and his optics could barely see her breathing. His optics turned to the thing standing over her, crouched with claws fresh with blood, Dr. Ciel's blood.

"You…" Herculious' horns lit up with lightning. "_Tsukiyo_…"

Tsukiyo stood slowly, palms down and away from the enraged reploid. He turned and ran through the large hole in the wall without so much as a backward glance. Herculious fired all four of his grappling claws after the Rider but only grabbed open air. He growled angrily but his optics fell once more to the doctor. He knelt down and carefully picked up Dr. Ciel with all the care his metallic joints could muster. He could barely hear the beat of her heart. "_Kuwagust, is the medical team still on standby?!_"

"_What?Of course brother, but why—_"

"_Tell them to prepare an emergency pseudo-blood supply for Doctor Ciel, type AB!_" Herculios raised an arm and fired a stream of lightning orbs as he made a hasty exit out of the hospital.

"_Ciel? Brother, what of the Darkstalker, did you destroy it?_"

"_There was no Darkstalker! It was Tsukiyo!_"

* * *

"Tsukiyo?" repeated Kuwagust, glancing upwards at the hospital just in time to see a dark shape burst open the wall and come leaping out. For a moment, he thought it his brother but the shape was too small, too dark to be the Crimson Beetle. Kuwagust's optics widened in surprise as Tsukiyo himself landed before him. The Rider stood slowly, obviously tried from having landed from nearly forty feet in the air. Kuwagust's audio-recepters caught the sound of a liquid dripping to the ground and his optics focused on the red blood marking the Rider's hands.

"Everyone, stay back…" Kuwagust's large bladed mandibles clacked with a loud clang as he stepped forward. "He's mine…"

Tsukiyo looked up slowly, as he stepped back and pulled a strange glasslike whistle from a side pocket built into the belt. Aside from the mouthpiece, the clear Crystle held a obisidian colored end that resembled a human skull. He placed the whistle to his mouth and blew.

"_Come, BloodBooster!_" called Aluc as he flew straight at Kuwagust's face, startling the bioid reploid and forcing him back. Tsukiyo stepped back, putting ample space between him and the enraged Kuwagust while watching with no small amount of amusement at the Cobalt Beetle's attempt at fighting with his partner. Aluc was small and not really effective as a fighter but if there were two things he had it was his speed and aerial maneuverability. The rest of the hunters kept their guns trained on him but refrained from firing until Kuwagust gave the order.

A loud scream was heard from all around and before one could begin to wonder of the sound's origin, it made itself known in the form of a burning black motorcycle roaring onto the scene. The bike slid to a halt next to Tsukiyo, its engine growling. It was a relic from a forgotten past, a motorcycle in the shape of a Honda Shadow with several clear differences. For unlike most bikes, this one was heavily customized to resemble a skeletal construct and, according to Kuwagust's sensors, it was exactly that.

"A Darkstalker?!"

"A friend," returned Tsukiyo as he patted the skull adorning its head, earning a pleased purr from the BloodBooster Cycle. He sat astride it as Aluc flew back to his perch on his belt. Tsukiyo gripped the handlebars tight and twisted them with a sharp jerk, sending the bike up back onto its rear wheel as the skull screamed once more. Dark fire flared along its metallic surface as skeletal wings spread themselves from the bike's "shoulders" before it shot down the street.

Kuwagust stared after it in surprise before growling and activating his jets and taking chase after Tsukiyo. His speedometer read he was excelling at speeds of over ninety miles-per-hour but the bike and its Rider was still outmatching him! His mandibles clicked shut before his head began to spin faster and faster until Kuwagust was totally encompassed by a tornado of his own creation.

Tsukiyo looked over his shoulder and smirked underneath his helmet. Just what he needed. The exhaust pipes of the BloodBooster quivered before suddenly unleashing a torrent of sickly purple flames at the whirlwind, which swallowed it up like a sponge before pittering out as Kuwagust skipped painfully along the ground, his mandibles badly cracked and as black marking spread themselves over his shell. His systems were crashing and it was all Saff-Ron, his cyber-elf partner, could do to keep him online. It wasn't anything a quick restart could fix but it gave Tsukiyo all the time he needed to escape.

* * *

The BloodBooster slowed to a stop in the alleyways of the Ice District, faint wisps of steam rising from its bony jaws. Its blood-red eyes narrowed as a faint shiver went through its metallic shell. As a creature of fire and steel, it was not comfortable with the cold temperatures of the Ice District but this was where its master wanted to be and so it brought him here without complaint.

Tsukiyo himself was sitting atop the BloodBooster with his shoulders hunched over as though the weight of the world had been set upon them. Aluc lifted off from his perch to hover anxiously about Tsukiyo's face.

"Now is not the time to wallow in self-pity, Master." Aluc spoke sharply. "The doctor will be fine but you won't be unless you get control of the situation at hand!"

Tsukiyo's visor shined briefly before the golden lenses focused on the small robotic bat. "Let's go."

* * *

Kuwagust flew along the city streets as silently as he could while maintaining maximum speed. Dawn would soon break the night and the curfew over New Eden's civilians would be lifted. The streets would be filled with people and vehicles, making it much harder for Kuwagust to follow after Tsukiyo's trail. It had been barely fifteen minutes since the so-called Rider's attack and Kuwagust's rebooting of his systems but it was enough for Tsukiyo to have escaped into the neighboring Ice District. Kuwagust's sensors suddenly went off and he skidded to a stop along the highway. Moving carefully, Kuwagust slowly approached the edge of the overpass, looking down into the empty street below. His optics narrowed, taking immediate note of the destroyed lamplights when a clawed hand suddenly reached up and gripped Kuwagust's face in a vice-like grip.

The Blue Beetle had time enough to gasp in shock before he was roughly pulled and thrown over the edge to the ground below. Kuwagust landed facefirst, his bladed mandibles piercing deep into the ground. Unable to turn his head, Kuwagust heard his attacker slowly moving behind him to strike. His backports opened and a flare of jetfire lit up the night, sending his assailant screaming back into the shadows. Unfortunately, the tactic was a double-edged sword for Kuwagust, whose mandibles were now stuck good and tight into the hardened tar beneath him.

His attacker snarled angrily and came around from Kuwagust's side, still hidden deep in the shadows. Looking out from the corner of his eyes, Kuwagust could see that it was some manner of Darkstalker monsterra but without a full-scale scan he was left literally in the dark. Heavy feet padded on the ground, sharpened claws lighting small sparks as they sharpened themselves on a steel lamppost.

Kuwagust stared as best as he could without fear into the shadows. If he to die, he'd die silently, without screaming and giving the Darkstalker its sick satisfaction.

A roar and the thing came charging forward only to choke as a thick chain came out of the darkness from behind it and wrapped tightly around its neck. The chain was jerked backwards just as the midnight clouds finally began to part and Kuwagust was allowed some light in the form of the moon above.

The Blue Beetle stared in surprise at the sight before him. It was a small creature, no large than an great dane at best, with long spindly arms like an ape but a head rather like a rat with a mouth filled with hollowed canines, four of which were rather prominent points near the front of the jaw. Colored in sickly shades of grey and red with gleaming yellow eyes, the creature looked like it crawled out of a nightmare. It screeched angrily as it clawed at the chain wrapped around its neck.

"A chupacabra…"

* * *

**CHUPACABRA**

_Type: _C-Class Darkstalker

One of the more infamous of blood-suckers, the chupacabra is classified under C-Class not just for their absolute non-discretion as to _where_ the blood comes from. Though many of them prefer livestock as easy prey, a chupacabra will not hesitate to fight for a meal, if it has to. In fact, the hungrier a chupacabra is, the more dangerous it becomes as all it will care about is fulfilling its need to feed, regardless of the danger.

* * *

The chain abruptly pulled itself loose from the chupacabra's neck, retracting back to the extended forearm of Tsukiyo who stood dispassionately in the moonlight. He tilted his head as the chupacabra, growling with ears quivering, stood tall on its hindlegs. Wordlessly, he pulled out a small Crystle, this one topped with a blue head like that of a wolf's. he placed it gently to the "lips" of his mouth-guard and blew.

Aluc's eyes shined blue as he cried, "_C'mere, Ravage Rook!_"

* * *

Gallon's eyes snapped open before he slowly stood up from his meditation stance. He hunched his shoulders forward, a deep growl echoing in his chest before he tilted his head back sharply and screamed. His scream turned into a beastial roar as blue and white fur burst forth from his skin as muscles and bones reshaped themselves into a terrible fusion between man and wolf. Crouching low on all fours, the newly formed lycanthrope released a slow growl before tilting back his head and howling for all he was worth as he body burst into neon blue energy and took off into the city, changing shape and form as he traveled through the air until, at last, he met with his caller.

* * *

Tsukiyo held up his arms just in time as the twin weapons appeared onto the scene with a wolf's howl, snapping themselves tightly to his wrists. He lowered his arms slowly, revealing that he was now adorned with a pair of tri-claws on each hand, the chains of his Moon Pawn Guantlets, gone like ash on the wind. Each blade was over a foot in length and shaped like the claws of a beast. Tsukiyo's visor flashed blue as the armor over his arms melted into liquid steel, changing into a more streamlined shape as cobalt fur grew in great tufts from the elbows. Taking an offensive attack stance, Tsukiyo matched the chupacabra's roar with one of his own.

He was now Tsukiyo Schneider Form.

"_Instance Strike!_" Tsukiyo SF's form blurred before he reappeared on all fours in front of the chupacabra, claws raking against naked scales and leathery flesh. The chupacabra fell back with a terrible scream as multiple gashes appeared in bloodied streaks on its chest. Kuwagust stared in astonishment at the sight for there were far too many hits made for such a limited amount of movement and with sickly realization, Kuwagust's cyber-elf concluded that Tsukiyo SF had moved faster than he could see.

The chupacabra rose to all fours, growling angrily before it vanished in a flash of blood and claws. Hollowed fangs tried to bite down at Tsukiyo SF's jugular but got a claw to the face. The two blurred as their speed increased, meeting claw-to-claw with the ring of metal against hardened bone. With a terrible scream, Aluc launched himself at the chupacabra's face, sending it reeling backwards as Tsukiyo SF leap back with the Savage Bite Crystle in hand. He blew it shrilly as Aluc's blazing blue eyes shined brighter.

"_Savage Bite!_" The mechanical bat flew down and managed a large mouthful of Tsukiyo SF's crossed wrists, biting down at the junction between the Ravage Rook Claws and the Moon Pawn Gauntlets. The blue gem adorning the gauntlets lit up brightly, the energies within coursing through Tsukiyo SF's body and focusing into the palms of his clawed hands.

Tsukiyo SF held his palms out in front of him, hands cupped with wrists touching before pulling his hands back and crouching forwad. The cobalt energy condensed tightly into a ball, swelling inside Tsukiyo SF's hands until it looked as though it might break free. He shot his hands forward with a roar of, "_Beast Rush Cannon!_"

The energy launched itself forward, swelling in size until it was little over the size of a beach ball. With a sudden howl, the energy ball twisted upon itself, changing quickly into the head of a wolf with jaws spread wide. The chupacabra turned and started to run but the attack was already in range.

With a snap of energy-jaws, the chupacabra's head went flying, the rest of its body burning under the cobalt flames of Tsukiyo SF's attack. The symbol of Tsukiyo burnt itself onto the asphalt as the moon's crimson colors faded back to pearly white. From the ashes of the dead Darkstalker rose its Dark Soul, flitting about wildly before it was swallowed by Aluc's fanged jaws. With a pleased smirk, Aluc flew to Tsukiyo SF's waiting hand and depositing the small gray gem with a small ptooey.

Tsukiyo SF gazed at the gem in silent scrutiny before nodding, obviously satisfied by something he saw in its crystalline surface. He looked back at the stunned Kuwagust and, without a word, kicked over the decaying head of the chupacabra.

"Doctor Ciel's blood still marks its fangs, granting me my innocence." Tsukiyo explained. He turned and started walking away into the darkness.

"Wait!" He paused, keeping his back to the reploid. Kuwagust's optics narrowed, fighting with his pride. "I… thank you… You saved my life though I would not have done the same for you. Whoever you are, whatever your purpose of being here in New Eden is, you'll do well to keep the company you keep out of our sight…" He was of course referring to the BloodBooster Cycle and the weapons that changed Tsukiyo's form. Whatever they were, Kuwagust could feel the darkness in them, and the power they emitted…

It was frightening; A-Class at the very least…

Tsukiyo SF turned his head to face Kuwagust before walking away once more. This time, he did not pause as Kuwagust called out to him, "I owe you a debt for what you did! I hope that, one day, I might return the favor!"

The unspoken, "Should I not kill be forced to kill you before then," was heard nonetheless.

* * *

"Bravo, Tsukiyo, bravo. Very well done." The slow clapping echoed as the piece representing the chucapabra fell to pieces on the board as Tsukiyo's own advanced forward. An icy claw tapped the board in contemplation, glimmering eyes wondering over the vast army of pieces standing between Tsukiyo and the End. "Hrmm… savage as the hunting wolf you are but savagery is nothing without physical power…" Vicious canines spread themselves into an evil grin. "Yes… this one will do nicely…" A piece slid forward on the playing field, standing at the fore of Tsukiyo's piece. "Show me your strength."

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

**

* * *

Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE...**

_Strike of the Thunderstorm_


	4. Strike of the Thunderstorm

**DISCLAIMER:** I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.

* * *

**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Strike of the Thunderstorm_

"_Monsterra are different than humans… never mind the shape or form, there is a key difference between humans and monsterra, both Lightwalker and Darkstalker… Monsterra, no matter the breed, are born into their power… unlike humans, they are classed as soon as they are brought into this desecrated world… humans though… had a the ability to increase their power to unprecedented levels… should they live long enough to access it…_"

* * *

Daini's eyes were closed as he breathed in the smell of scented smoke from the lit fireplace. Wood, as rare as it was in a non-monsterra form, was a rare commodity reserved for people far richer than he so old charcoal and lumps of coal had to serve his childish need for warmth and light in the otherwise darkened library. Many of the usual lanterns were kept dark, the light of the fireplace and the moon serving Daini well in the late hours of the night.

Gallon, having no love for the stink of smoke, had retired to his own chambers, a tome of some kind carefully carried away in his hands, leaving only Daini and the siblings von Gerdenheim. Though twins by birth, the brother and sister pair looked anything but related to one another. Emily, who was by all appearances no older than Daini himself and so unable to serve as one of his joint guardians, was dressed in attire that was ancient by modern standards of New-Eden but fit her style well. Her brown hair was pulled back into twin pigtails that fell down to her ankles. She was curled up in her own chair with a large book resting upon her lap, one decorated with numerous pictures and conversations.

Her brother Victor was very different. He absolutely towered over her, and everyone else for that matter. He had a shock of shaggy blonde hair on his head and though he had enough muscles on him to earn a fair favor in a fight against a Golem-unit mechaniloid, Victor was best described as a gentle giant. He rarely left Emily's side, or Daini's whenever he was home, and served a silent vigil over them both but was often seen tending to the numerous tomes that filled the library with a gentle care belying his great size. At the moment, he was sitting on the floor beside Emily, more than tall enough to look at the wonderful illustrations of the book as Emily taught him some new words.

Daini rose to his feet and walked over to a shelf, replacing the book he had finished reading. He glanced over the shelves and visibly brightened as he reached up and grabbed a thick volume from high above him. The book fell back into his hands with an audible thud and Daini hefted it up to gaze over the cover. He blew at it to rid it of some dust and visibly started at the title.

"History of the Silver Millennium…? Third Edition…" He shrugged and walked over to reclaim his chair. "Sounds interesting…"

Emily glanced up as Daini sat down and her eyes widened marginally at the sight of the book. She reached over and touched Victor's shoulder, bringing her brother's attention to Daini. Without a word, Victor stood to his feet and walked away, casting a backward glance at the oblivious Daini, who never took note of the concern on Victor's otherwise stony face.

* * *

The Museum was something of an outdated place. Not truly open to the public, the Museum is actually a section of Cyberdynne Central, specifically located in the "Tower of Shadow" in the city's southernmost border. It wasn't so much a place of history as it was a place of storage of random artefacts scattered about Neo-Urth. Machines of old were absolute but books, sources of information of the Past-that-Was, were an immeasurable treasure. Whatever other pieces of the forgotten Past were valuable but were placed haphazardly about the Museum with care only placed on putting them in their proper wings and halls.

Though the day had only just begun, one of the Museum's curators was busy at work over a newly gained piece for the weaponry wing. Charles was not by any means an important man but he liked to think himself as such and wasn't afraid to be boastful at any given opportunity.

At the moment, Charles was gushing over the newest piece to his wing like a child on sugar-high.

"My word! This armor is in perfect condition but its age, its design! It has to be at least several hundred years old if not older! And the sword! It's shining with-Ouch! Oh my finger…" Charles sucked his finger, not bothering to notice the faint trail of blood flowing from the tip of the sword to the helmet resting at the top of the open crate.

"**_Blood…_**"

The eyes of the helmet shined as it slowly floated upwards, changing from a dull blue to a shining red. Red like freshly spilled blood. Charles gasped and hurriedly backed away before turning horrified eyes to the sword in his hand for he had been sure to release it from his grasp. Instead, his hand tightened on the sword's hilt, veins visibly popping up beneath the flesh.

"**_Souls…_**"

The crate crashed apart from the inside and the full set of armor was revealed as a ghostly visage melted into place between the floating segments, giving them actual form to cover and protect. Charles stared in mounting horror as the chest armor twisted and warped upon itself until a fanged visage appeared on its surface, with gleaming golden eyes twisting about before focusing upon him with the ghostly face mirroring it. The armor stepped forward, beckoning with a hand and the sword in Charles' hand came flying into its own.

The poor man had only just begun to scream before the armor was upon him, sword piercing through flesh and bone and cutting deep into the soul with voracious laughter echoing the empty halls.

* * *

"Why are you so skittish this morning, Shock?" It was morning the next day and Daini and Hedgeshock were making their usual trek towards school with the small bioid acting more hyperactive than usual, looking about as though she expected something to burst out of the shadows of the towering skyscrapers around them.

Hedgeshock shot her human friend a wide-eyed glare. "How can you even ask that?! In less than a month we've had more Darkstalker attacks than in the past _year!_" She shivered, sparks dancing along her quills. "Daddy's been so overworked just keeping track on the Thunder District I can't imagine what the other Maverick Hunters must be going through after last night! Oops!" Hedgeshock clamped her plug-shaped hands to her mouth.

"Last night?" Daini's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, frowning behind his surgical mask. "What happened last night?"

"Oh my oversized audio unit… Okay, you can't tell this to anyone, okay! Not another soul!" Hedgeshock pointed at Daini with an electrified hand.

"You're the only one I talk to anyway, Hedgeshock. What's happened?" asked Daini.

Hedgeshock glanced about, checking if any other reploids were in audio range before whispering to Daini, "There was another attack last night, this time in Cyberdynne Central! The entire Museum staff was killed!"

"The Museum?" Daini stood on his toes, looking to the south where the building nicknamed the "Tower of Shadow" for its black surface stood. Cyberdynne Central was two building in one, divided to stand on opposing borders, the "Tower of Light" to the north with the "Tower of Shadow" in the south. No one fully knew what transpired inside the two buildings but there were plenty of rumors and heresay. It was in these two structures that the Ruling Council resided and for an attack to occur there…

"Weren't there any Hunters on patrol?" asked Daini.

Hedgeshock shook her head. "None of the Maverick Hunters are even allowed to enter the Towers without permission from the Council. Only the basic pantheon soldiers were there." She snorted at that for it was infamously known that the pantheon-type mechaniloids were next to useless in a serious fight.

"They're sure it was a Darkstalker?" Daini asked carefully. "Not a Maverick?"

Hedgeshock repressed a shiver at the very idea. "No thank the Maker… No, whatever did it…" She shook her head and looked up at Daini. "You know my dad right?"

"We met…" Daini visibly paled at that memory of their first meeting. Kind and caring father he might be, Pegasolt Éclair was also extremely protective of his adopted protégé.

"Then you remember that he used to be a member of the Dark Hunters right?" Daini nodded in agreement. Contrary to the Maverick Hunters which acted as shields against Maverick and Darkstalker attacks within the borders of New Eden, the Dark Hunter actively went out into the other quadrants of Neo-Urth to hunt Darkstalkers down. As far as he knew, excluding ex-members like Pegasolt, there were three such Dark Hunters out there right now, which in itself was actually a good thing.

To even be considered into the ranks of a Dark Hunter, one had to slay no less than seven A-Class Darkstalkers, within or outside New Eden's borders. Few could survive against one but seven? To be a Dark Hunter was to be a member of the elite, the crème of the crop, whose orders came second only to the Council.

"Yes, both he and Panter Flauclaws were known as the Lightning Strike. They bagged a lot of high bounties back in the day. So what?" asked Daini.

Hedgeshock glanced once more at the shadows and siddled closer to Daini. "So, daddy says he's only seen the higher class of Darkstalker attack with such abandon! At the very least, there's a B-Class running loose in New Eden!"

"What?!" Daini shook his head. "That's impossible. Nothing short of D-Class should be able to break through the shield."

Hedgeshock nodded in agreement. "I know, I know! But it did, somehow!"

Daini shook his head, his thoughts whirling about in his head. "C'mon. We better get to School before we're late. I'm sure the Hunters have it under control."

* * *

"No, we don't have the situation under control, god damn it!" Laser fire lit up the night, turning inky blackness to blazing red as reploid Hunters ran for their lives, firing their weaponry into the darkness as they went. Laserlight bounced impossibly from hardened steel as demonic laughter echoed in the black night, cold iron slicing armorlike flesh with ease.

"We need immediate back-up! I repeat, we need immediate—" Oil sprayed forth from a mouth pierced from behind. The top half of the soldier's head went flying, the body falling lifelessly to the ground though the SOUL core remained active within its cooling shell.

The ghostly visage of a murderous samurai stood over the devastation with obvious distaste marking both its faces. Glimmering amber orbs looked to the sword, listening to its silent rantings for blood of mortal flesh, not the poor substitutes that were thrown against them. It was used to this though, having spent countless years, immeasurable centuries bound together like brothers. Where the sword craved for fresh blood and death, it was the armor's will and desire for something more than easy pickings, more than simple kills. It desired hardship, it craved for strife…

It wanted a challenge.

And it was about to get one.

The sword came up just in time to deflect a length of chain that would have bound itself tight to the Demon Samurai's neck. Another came after it but the specter was already leaping back out of range, gleaming eyes staring into the shadows as an armored form came leaping out, palms extended to it.

"_Sonic Swarming!_" Ultrasonic waves burst from the hands of Tsukiyo, but the specter stood firm against it, an unamused frown spreading on its ghastly face. The sword twirled lightly for a moment, gauging the enemy before them even as Tsukiyo did the same, reaching down and pulling forth the Rook Crystle and calling forth his ally with the small whistle's howl.

Aluc's eyes shined blue as he cried, "_C'mere, Ravage Rook!_"

Tsukiyo held up his arms just in time as the twin weapons appeared onto the scene with a wolf's howl, snapping themselves tightly to his wrists. He lowered his arms, quickly taking an attack stance with the Ravage Rook claws at the ready even as the voice of his weapon's soul spoke to him from within his mind.

'_Oh no… Pup, we've got to get out of here, you're not ready to fight against this Darkstalker!_'

Tsukiyo SF ignored him, charging forward with a feral roar, claws swinging at unseen speeds through the air. The armor danced back from the charging Rider, sword deflecting each and every strike with ease. The ghostly samurai's earlier frown stretched slowly into a demonic grin matched by its facial chestplate. It slowly began to speed up, smiling growing wider as Tsukiyo SF matched it strike-for-strike until it abruptly roared in demonic exstacy, unleashing a wave of dark energy from its sword too fast for Tsukiyo SF to dodge and too powerful to block.

The Rider was sent flying back with the Ravage Rook claws disengaging from his arms and teleporting back whence they came. Now reverted back to Null Form, Tsukiyo stood shakily to his feet, one clawed hand clutched tight at his chest as he struggled to breathe.

The ghastly armor frowned at this, its earlier excitement now gone as it regarded its suddenly weakened foe. It flicked its sword partner back to its sheathe despite its horrid shrieks to cut their opponent down while he was weak. It turned to regard the brightening sky and suddenly understood.

"**_Tommorrow night…_**" Tsukiyo stared up in shock as the Demonic Samurai glared at him with all four eyes. "**_At the eastern shore of the Inland Sea… you will be there and we will finish this._**"

"… And if I refuse?"

The armor actually laughed, its humanlike head filled to the brim with a monster's fangs open and loud in its humor. "**_You won't. You think I don't recognize that stench about you?_**" It leered at him with golden eyes. "**_Hiding amongst the sheep will not protect you. I will slaughter this entire city but I will have my challenge with you, Moon Child!_**" The Demonic Samurai faded out of sight leaving naught but its dark laughter echoing in the rising dawn.

* * *

"What in the Maker's name happened to you?!" gasped Hedgeshock, staring with wide, disbelieving eyes at the apparent injuries on Daini's body, particularly how he favored his chest and was labored with his breathing. "Did Adam and his gang of thugs beat up on you again?! Masters of the Playground my sparkplug! I'll make them into living lightbulbs once I'm through!"

"It's alright Hedgeshock. Just a bad day with Gallon is all…" Daini winced at the memory. '_Emphasis on bad… I've never seen him so angry…_'

"Jeez, he went all out on ya didn't he? Why do you insist on being his punching bag anyway?" asked Hedgeshock, truly unaware of how strong Daini was on his own merit as he refused to raise a hand against anyone, even those who wished him harm in the first place.

"It makes him happy." Daini started to shrug but winced as he pulled a sore muscle. "Ouch…"

Hedgeshock sighed, shaking her small head as she took Daini by the hand. "C'mon tough guy let's at least have the School's nurse have a look at you."

* * *

"What will we do, Gallon?"

The wolfish man looked up from the cup of coffee he had been staring into for the last several minutes as though the answers lied within the darkened reflection of himself. Emily was standing worriedly in front of his usual table in the library, bare of any books lest he damage them with an accidental spill, and her brother towering over her, his usual grim frown even deeper than usual.

"What can any of us do?" he asked in return, taking a swallow of his drink. "We might as well be wearing target signs on ourselves the moment we step outside these walls and besides that…" He lifted up a hand, frowning in concentration. His eyes began to glow as his frown turned feral, sweat beading upon his brow until, at last, soft nails turned into wicked claws before receding back as quickly as they appeared. Gallon was gasping from the effort and took a shaky drink of his coffee. "Unless called, we can't access our full power on our own."

"Then it's all in Little Dai's hands…?" whispered Emily, sounding meek and afraid for her adopted little brother.

"No. Victor will help Daini. If Daini call for Victor." Her brother's voice rumbled like a thunderstorm but it brought a blazing smile to Emily's face

"The pup's pride was wounded in that last fight," retorted Gallon, "If there's one thing he inherited from his mother it's that damn ego."

"He's not as bad as that, Gallon," chided Emily.

"Hrmph. I suppose not. He's too damn kind is what it really is. He didn't care so much that he lost more that I was injured as a result. He didn't know that the Guardian Arms could do such a thing to us." Gallon sighed, looking out into the city below. "I'm worried that the fool will not call for us, should he have need of our strength."

A sudden echoing whistle rang throughout the halls, touching the ears of those meant to hear their calls. Gallon glanced up and smirked as Victor himself stood tall, cracking his knuckles loudly.

"Well, well… the pup's not as foolish as I thought he'd be."

Purple lightning danced around Victor's body, artificial flesh peeling back as thick iron bolts applied themselves to his neck. Thick leather stitches pulled themselves taut as muscles swelled with renewed power beneath pale, dead flesh. His bleached blonde hair stood on end as he roared like a man born anew as a monster, his great fist colliding with a thunderbolt of power before his body burst into neon purple energy and took off into the city, changing shape and form as he traveled through the air until, at last, he met with his caller.

* * *

The Water District was better known as "The Pond" by the residents of New Eden but by those outside of the city's borders, particularly by the monsterra that roamed the other Quadrants of Neo-Urth, knew it as the Inland Sea. It was here that all breeds of aquatic fauna and flora could survive for the special properties of the oversized lake allowed fresh and salt water denizens a perfect habitat. Here was every fisherman's dream and every aquatic monsterra's haven though few could survive the journey to the Eastern Plains of Chalice, let alone pass the guarded borders of New Eden itself.

Large as the Water District is, it was all its two designated Guardians/Maverick Hunters could do to maintain a daily patrol. It was for this reason that Tsukiyo's opponent chose the Water District's shores as a place of battle between them. Here, the two could face one another without restraint and without wasting their time and power dealing with outsiders hoping to interrupt their battle.

The water was starting to lap at Tsukiyo's feet as he stood silently at the shore, his golden visor reflecting the falling sun until, at last, day fell into night. Blue spectral fires ignited in the air around him as he turned, watching the small orbs gather tightly together to form his adversary. The crimson armor appeared first, its gleaming yellow eyes shining as its fangs spread into a vicious grin that was soon matched by the ghostly visage of its spectral wearer.

It stood without fear, well out of physical striking range of Tsukiyo as it regarded the younger warrior.

"**_Your name… so that I may write it on your tombstone!_**" The Rider's shoulders stiffened but he stood firm.

"Kamen Rider… Tsukiyo."

For the first time, surprise marked the poltergeist's ghastly face. "**_I see… taught by the wolf but carrying your own legacy… then it's only fair you know the name of your killer…_**

"**_I am Bishamon!_**" Tsukiyo dodged to the side as Bishamon's blade sliced through the air. Laughing with its strange echoing voice, the poltergeist pressed for the attack, forcing Tsukiyo to dodge every swordstroke that came his way.

'_This is bad!_' Tsukiyo ducked beneath a headcutter. '_He's playing with me, I know he is._' A barehanded grab and twist, Tsukiyo jumped back and away. '_He matched me stroke for stroke in Schneider Form and was strong enough to break the bond between the Ravage Rook and I!_' Stone ruptured under the force of a demonic sword's deadly swing. '_So how… how can I defeat the Demon Armor of Hanya!?_'

'_Idiot boy…_' The voice of Aluc rang in his head as the mechanical bat spoke to him through their bond. '_What good is all the speed and cunning of a wolf in a fight for power? For dominance?!_' A madman's laughter in the dark. '_Cast away your base assumptions of your limitations; become the storm and strike him down idiot boy!_'

'_Storm…_' Another near-hit, too close for comfort to his jugular to be ignored. Tsukiyo jumped back, standing dangerously close to the shore of the Inland Sea. A twitch of the fingers and a deep purple Crystle was in his clawed hand. Shaped like a fist and made seemingly of amethyst, the Crystle made a deep sound like a pipe organ as Tsukiyo blew it.

Aluc's eyes shined purple as he cried, "_C'mere, Juggernaut Knight!_"

Tsukiyo held up a hand just in time as a massive warhammer appeared onto the scene with a thundercrack. The hammer's shaft was longer than Tsukiyo was tall and the hammer itself was carved in the shape of a golem's face with a pair of tick bolts sticking out from the sides of the head. As a whole the weapon, Juggernaut Knight, was colored a dark royal purple to match the changes of his armor. Just like with Schneider Form, the Moon Pawn Gauntlets were bare, the purple gems shining brightly. However, the arms remained unchanged while the armor protecting Tsukiyo's chest had changed to match the color of his new weapon and appearing even moreso like the chest muscles of a human body.

He was now Tsukiyo Panzer Form.

Bishamon stood back, its blade held relaxed in its hands as it stared at the sudden change, a faint glimmer of recognition shining in both its eyes. It rushed forward and suddenly darted to the side, watching in small amusement as Tsukiyo PF brought his hammer down with a roar, "_Giga Brute!_" The demonic poltergeist's grin widened on its horrific armor, matched by the ghostly visage of its face. The attack was strong enough to create a crater several yards wide and nearly just as deep.

"**_Powerful… but…_**" Bishamon ran forward, blade at the ready. "**_Too slow!_**"

Tsukiyo PF turned, shouldering the Juggernaut Knight without any obvious concern. Bishamon's humanlike face frowned and soon turned to agony as lightning suddenly arced out from Tsukiyo PF's body, striking the nearest metallic source which happened to be the demonic samurai's bloodthirsty blade.

Bishamon leapt back, staggering on the sand as electricity fizzled out across its armor. "**_You… hehe…_**" Bishamon shook its humanoid head, the face on its chestplate smiling a fanged rueful grin. "**_You are more intelligent than I gave you credit for boy… You match me for speed with the wolf but not in power… so you substitute the wolf for the golem and exchange your speed for a defense impenetrable by the likes of one such as I… HAHAHAHAHA!_**" Bishamon's heads tilted back, laughter roaring from their mouths as the blade seemed to shine with unholy delight. "**_This is it! The challenge I've been waiting for all these years!_**" It took another ready stance, sword at the ready. "**_One last attack! One final strike to prove who shall live and who shall die this night!_**"

"Bring it." Tsukiyo PF pulled out the Savage Bite Crystle and blew it shrilly as Aluc's glimmering purple eyes shined brighter.

"_Savage Bite!_" The mechanical bat flew upwards to the Juggernaut Knight and bit down upon its pommel. The purple gems adorning the Moon Pawn Gauntlets lit up with a sudden intensity as lightning danced around the massive hammer. Bishamon charged forward, grinning madly before suddenly jumping back and away from Tsukiyo PF, completely out of range of his attack, or so it thought.

"_Thunder Breaker!_" The Juggernaut Knight pounded into the sand, sending great clouds of it rising into the air as the ground beneath cracked apart in wide arcs as lightning flowed through the earth before rising up into the air, attracted by the one primary source available to them.

Bishamon.

Tsukiyo PF hefted the massive hammer over his shoulder, watching the last of the admittedly impressive lightshow fade off, leaving naught but the armor and weapon behind, the ghostly apparition that served as the body gone without a trace.

The sword was badly cracked and looked ready to break to pieces with the armor not much better but Tsukiyo PF saw the eyes glaring at him, broken fangs spread in a angry snarl.

"**_I… lost…? Impossible!_**" Tsukiyo PF remained silent, standing before the Soul Armor beneath his helmet. The armor's scowl twisted, shifting into a devious smile. "**_Boy… don me… you've earned the right… You know of my power! … With my strength added to your own, you will be unstoppable!_**"

Tsukiyo PF stared down at the armor for a long time. Lightning began to dance along the Juggernaut Knight.

"No."

The hammer came down.

* * *

Bishamon's piece shattered to pieces which soon turned themselves to smoke on the playing field of the chessboard. A pointed chin rested upon an upturned palm, shining blue eyes half-lidded as they gazed upon the board and the remaining pieces. Though there was an air of boredom around the shadowed figure, there was a serious light in the eyes that stared at the Tsukiyo piece.

"Cunning of the Wolf…" A blue wolflike figure appeared behind Tsukiyo's piece. "Power of the Storm…" A hulking humanoid figure colored in shades of purple appeared beside the first. "That leaves just one more…" A final piece appeared behind the pair, black and shapeless though the cold eyes saw more. A sharp claw reached out and tapped the piece's head in silent wonder before tapping the space before Tsukiyo, watching as another piece manifested itself as a massive swarm. A malicious grin in the dark.

"Yes… She'll do nicely…"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

**

* * *

Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE...**

_One Shot to Pierce the Waters_


	5. One Shot to Pierce the Waters

**DISCLAIMER:** I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.

* * *

**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_One Shot to Pierce the Waters_

"_Some could argue that it is by the sword that we must live in this wretched world… that he who holds the better weapon is the one most suited to live… They'd be right and wrong all at once. Yes, the better weapon will gain a higher chance of success… but it is not by swords and shields that our world must live by… Guns and bullets… those will always assure a victory…_"

* * *

_"Daini…"_ A hand stroked through dark tresses with gentle familiarity.

"Who's there?" Distrust, cold as sharpened steel.

"_Daini…"_ Sadness and longing, soft fingers moving away as hardened eyes sought their source in the dark abyss.

"Where are you?!" Dull brown became shining red as the eyes turned about in a mad frenzy.

_"Your destiny is nearly at hand, Daini… the time draws near… you must find them or all will be lost…"_

"I don't understand!" Anger, frustration, and everything in between. He didn't know, he couldn't comprehend.

_"You will… in time…"_ The voice, the presence, the feeling of safety, of home… were fading.

"Wait… Wait! Come back! Don't leave me alone in the dark! Please!" A desperate scream as the blazing red faded once more to ordinary brown.

_"Remember, Daini… I am always with you… especially in the dark…"_ A soft smile in the shadows, warm eyes crinkling in affection as they gazed upon him.

"No, no! Please, come back!" Fear and despair raging for dominance, he took off after her, tears now flowing freely as he at last _remembered_.

_"I love you…"_

"MOTHER!"

* * *

Daini's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a painful gasp. He sat in his bed panting for breath, a cold sweat dripping down his wide eyes as he stared blankly forward into the fading shadows of his room. The sun was rising, the night was over. Day had come once more to New Eden and silently, the people of the city, human or otherwise, rejoiced in the beginning of another day.

A small shape stirred in the rafters above, crimson eyes suddenly alight in the shadows. "Another dream? Or perhaps a nightmare?"

Daini finally got his breathing under control to shoot an angry glare into the shadows. "You don't have to sound so pleased by it."

"Oh, I'm not. Not really. The best nightmares are ones made, not dreamed." A dark chuckle and the eyes faded away into the dark.

"… I hate it when he does that…" Daini sighed.

* * *

What had she been doing all these years, she wondered to herself. To have missed such ripe hunting grounds as this marvelously large city, the only one of its kind in all the world? The small villages and bands of human life in the other Quadrants did not compare to this, this overfilled plate of silver and jewels? True many of those blasted Lightwalkers made this city their sanctuary but it was of little consequence in the long run. With enough time and energy, the hive could take even the powerful unicorns down like cattle.

After all, food was plentiful in New Eden…

* * *

Muffet was by no means a scaredy cat, though most of her schoolmates would say otherwise. To be fair, there were the usual fears that came with living in New Eden. The threat of Mavericks was always there under the service of any reploid, even the non-combatants but especially in those made for battle, nevermind the nightmares that came from the Darkstalkers waiting just outside New Eden's borders. Those were fears common-found, fears that no sane mortal, human or otherwise, would be without.

Her true fears were something most would see as childish but being a child herself, it is easily forgiven. Though the species all but extinct save for the endangered butterfly, young Miss Muffet feared insects with a passion borderlining absolute phobia. Though the species was overall extinct, except some of the hardier specimens, Cyberdynne made up for it with their Insectoid bioid series. Oh she got the shivers just _thinking_ about those atrocities!

In point of fact… she had been shivering for quite some time despite it not truly being cold outside in the slightest.

A faint buzzing sound and Muffet knew no more.

* * *

Panter Flauclaws was by no means one to succumb to his emotional programings easily. To many of his fellow Hunters, particularly the District Guardians, Panter had the emotional range of a rock. A rock made entirely of cold iron but a rock nonetheless. Nothing seemed to earn any kind of emotional response from the stoic bioid. Did he get angry at losing a sparing match? No, he'd get up and start all over again. Did he feel happy at a job well done, another life saved? No, he would calmly accept the thanks with a solemn gratitude and go about his business as usual. One would think it almost impossible for the panther-based bioid to feel any semblance of emotion, that he was more of a machine than any reploid before him.

They would be wrong.

Besides him, Pegasolt Éclair, his partner in guarding the Thunder District, bowed his equine head, mechanical wings wrapped tightly over his shoulders. Both lightning users were silent as the patheon footsoldiers continued their work. They watched as the last small body was carried out of sight, its horrid fate hidden by the bag that covered it from the world.

"The entire preschool class… a whole generation of children, human and reploid… gone…" Pegasolt whispered. "So many casualities… barely a week after that fiasco at the Museum, never mind the earlier incidents…" The lightning-class reploid shook his head.

Panter didn't respond, his feline lenses focused on the dried blood on the floor, his mechanical mind cycling through the images one after the other. All children, all barely into their fifth year of life, priceless treasures in this city of last hope… Gone. Their bodies desecrated, their blood spilled like water as their very souls were drained from their dying bodies. Panter knelt down, claws gently touching the ground, his head bowed low. He would find whatever monsterra was responsible for this and make them scream. Make them beg for mercy, for the deliverance of a quick and final death. Only when the strength to cry left them would he allow their body to die before he'd make a plaything of their very soul.

May whatever god left have mercy upon them for Panter Flauclaws would not.

* * *

Daini stood staring down at the city with half-lidded eyes, not truly seeing anything though his eyes never wavered from the lit streets below where patheon soldiers patrolled in higher numbers than before. His arms were crossed on the cold stone of the balcony to better support his weight as he leaned over to stare at the ground below.

"I heard what happened. Are you alright?" Daini blinked and turned to see his third, and by far most responsible, guardian standing in the lit doorway, a steaming cup of tea in each hand. He was a tall man though nowhere near as tall as Victor and only marginally moreso than Gallon, and was always dressed in the most expensive of clothes. While it was Gallon's job to teach Daini how to fight with his fists, it was Rikuo who taught him to fight with his brain.

He wordlessly handed one to Daini as he walked over and leaned against the stone wall, his back to the city. Daini held his cup with both hands, letting it warm them from the bitter cold of the night.

"It's not your fault you know." Rikuo spoke up, brushing a long strand of dark emerald hair back along his scalp with all the regality of a royal. "All the upper classes were scheduled for a working field trip in the Wood District, not just yours."

"Still doesn't make it right."

Rikuo blew at his cup before taking a sip. "No, I suppose it doesn't does it?" He glanced out the corner of his eye, blue like the ocean. "But taking blame for something outside your control? That's not only wrong, it's stupid. Too many have been crushed taking the weight of the world on their shoulders."

Daini didn't respond to that, at least not in the way Rikuo had expected him to. After a long silence, staring into the depths of his teacup as though it had all the answers, Daini looked up at his guardian. "What was my mother like?"

Rikuo nearly choked on his tea at the sudden question but managed to swallow it down. In all the years he and the others had raised the boy, Daini had not once ever questioned the actions or personalities of his parents. At least, not for the last decade at least and even those questions stopped once his training began.

"Hmm. I admit I'm surprised by the question. Most boys would ask after their father instead." Rikuo stalled.

Daini shrugged indifferently, looking back to the city. "I guess it's 'cause he's alive and she isn't…"

Rikuo was silent for a long moment, staring without any emotion on his face at the boy he saw as his own son. They never once said that either of his parents were dead, never once implied anything of the sort. "What makes you say that?"

"…Forget it," said Daini, setting the cup down. "You wouldn't—" A ghostly tune began to play, the sounds of an ocarina echoing in the approaching midnight hour.

"It seems we must finish this conversation later." Rikuo noted idly as Daini started heading back inside, speaking up suddenly before he entered the estate-like apartment. "And we will finish it, Daini."

Daini paused in the doorway before nodding and vanishing into the apartment. Rikuo sighed and leaned back against the railing, staring into his half-finished cup of tea. "Just what do you think you're accomplishing here… putting him through all this now… You push him any more and you'll break him… and then we might as well hand the world to Her." Rikuo looked upwards to the skies where the dark shadow of the Dragon's Keep could be seen moving slowly across its route, the lights within glowing unnaturally bright in the darkness of the night.

* * *

'_Not again…_'

"N-No! Stay away from me! Mommy!" Tears falling down ashen cheeks, young eyes staring upwards in terror at the swarm before them.

'_Not again…!_'

"Don't be scared little ones… it will all be over real soon…" The leader spoke in a lustful whisper, her fingers stroking her stomach gently as it growled for sustenance.

'_NEVER AGAIN!_'

A length of chain shot out from the darkness, smacking the leader soundly in the face and sending her reeling backwards. The mother hugged her child closer to her as she turned her head and gasped in horror. Tsukiyo stood behind her, his arm still extended as the chain recoiled back along his forearm.

"Run." He spoke simply, walking around the mother and daughter, to stand between them and the swarm. "Protect your child."

The mother didn't need any further prompting, she turned and fled without a word, never once looking back at her dark savior.

"Now that was very rude, interrupting our meal like that." Tsukiyo turned and looked upwards at the one who had spoken, the only human-sized member of the swarm that looked like infinite copies of the same girl. "You should know better than to interrupt a soul bee's feast little warrior."

* * *

**SOUL BEE**

_Type: _B-Class Darkstalker

Soul bees are the only known insect-type of Darkstalker monsterra, a fortunate fluke as soul bees are by far one of the more dangerous monsterra to encounter out in the wilds of Neo Urth. Though they generally inhabit the Northern Jungles of Garren, soul bees can travel all the way to the Southern Wastes of Blade if they have to. Feeding entirely on souls, even the smallest swarm can decimate an entire village of people in a single night, but that's nothing compared to what a Queen Soul Bee can do.

* * *

The Queen Bee hovered before Tsukiyo, leaning so far forward that it appeared as though she was looking at the ground but Tsukiyo knew better than that. The jewel-like ornaments atop the darkstalker's head were her real eyes, another finite detail between insect and human this monsterra failed to hide.

"You smell of darkstalker…" she murmured, hovering closer, lifting a hand to stroke Tsukiyo's chin, smiling as he remain impassive to her touch. Her touch confirmed what she assumed, she couldn't feed on his soul, not with his armor on. But that didn't mean she couldn't taste it.

"Oh my…" She shivered and leaned forward, her mouth next to Tsukiyo's ear as she panted for breath, a cold quiver traveling up and down her spine. "Yours… is a most delicious soul indeed… it will be enough to feed my children for _years_."

Tsukiyo cocked his head and, sounding rather amused, he asked, "You think I'll just let you take it?"

"Little warrior… little _boy_…" whispered Queen Bee, leaning closer to him so that their faces were inches apart. "You don't have a choice!" She blurred out of the way just in time as a good portion of her swarm dived down, stingers at the ready.

"_Sonic Swarming!_" Tsukiyo held his palms up and with a sound roar, created a massive sonic wail from his gloved hands. The swarm was sent flying back but a second wave was already diving down with several more following close behind. Tsukiyo cursed and leapt back, the chains of his gauntlets flying at the swarm, knocking as many soul bees away as they could.

'_They're mindless drones! They don't care about pain or self-preservation! They only care about what they're queen wants._' Tsukiyo grunted. '_They might as well be ghouls for all their worth._'

'_Worthless they might be but they know what their queen wants and right now, she wants you…_' chuckled Aluc. '_Idiot. What did you think would happen, dangling the honey before a soul bee?_' Aluc laughed and launched forward from his perch on Tsukiyo's buckle, slashing at any bee that managed to slip through the chains' attack. "You know what we need boy!" the mechanical bat laughed with homicidal glee as it bit down and tore a soul bee's head clear off.

"Hm." Tsukiyo's fingers twitched and there was a vibrantly green Crystle in his clawed hand. Shaped like a webbed fin of a fish and seemingly made of emerald, the Crystle made a sound like a whale's call as Tsukiyo blew it.

Aluc spat the soul bee's head out as it disintegrated into ash, his eyes suddenly shining green as he cried, "_C'mere, Magnum Bishop!_"

* * *

Rikuo's head shot up, his eyes wide and slitted like a reptile's own before he slowly set down his cup of tea. He smoothed his shirt as his hair begain to waver like he was deep underwater before he spread out his hands and twirled in place, screaming as water surrounded him in a sudden torrent. His scream turned into a leviathan's cry as the water splashed down to reveal a man more fish than human with large webbed hands tipped in lengthy claws and a fin as vibrant as fresh mangos. Leaning forward, gills rising and falling with his breath, the gillman released a slow breath before leaping upwards as his body burst into neon green energy and took off into the city, changing shape and form as he traveled through the air until, at last, he met with his caller.

* * *

Tsukiyo held up his right hand just in time to grab the handgun that appeared onto the scene with a sudden roar of rushing water. The handgun was similar in form to a revolver but was topped with a jagged fin with its barrel shaped like face of a demonic shark complete with miniature fangs. Despite its design and purpose, the weapon was colored in stunning shades of sea green with stripes in fine tropical hues. The Magnum Bishop was by far the smallest of Tsukiyo's three weapons but it was by no means the weakest. Just like his previous two forms, the Moon Pawn Gaunlets were now free of their chains with the emerald gems shining brilliantly. Tsukiyo's arms and chest remained unchanged save for the armor of his legs which, aside from gaining a scaly green coloration, now were bedecked with webbed fins that stuck out a good seven inches from the outerside of Tsukiyo's legs.

He was now Tsukiyo Jager Form.

He twirled the gun expertly as Aluc took to his roost once more. "Your reign ends today, Your Majesty. _Aqua Spread!_" Tsukiyo JF's arm was a blur as he fired shot after shot at the swarm before twirling his gun once more and letting his arm rest loosely at his side. The swarm hovered in place for a long time before half their number fell to the ground and shattered to pieces, the ice covering their bodies cold as the arctic winds.

The remaining half of the swarm hesitated for but a moment before they spread out in a tight circle around Tsukiyo JF. They buzzed angrily as they arms morphed into deadly stingers that glistened with fresh toxins before they dove down in random. The transformed Rider blurred and reappeared outside the circling swarm, his gun aimed to fire though it's barrel was already steaming from use.

A single bit of movement was all it took for the soul bees to suddenly burst apart in the air as the water of the Magnum Bishop's bullets boiled them from the inside out. Tsukiyo JF smirked beneath his helmet and twirled his gun once more before holding it to point upwards to the heavens.

'_Something's not right here…_' spoke Aluc, his emerald eyes narrowed. '_Where are the souls of the fallen soul bees?_'

Tsukiyo JF stiffened with sudden realization and spun, gun raised high as the last remaining soul was swallowed down. The Queen Bee hummed in delight, a finger to her pursed lips as her other hand stroked her full stomach. She gazed down at Tsukiyo JF with half-lidded human eyes, licking her fingers clean from her recent meal.

"Were your soul not so delicious to my palette, I would have found the sacrifice of my hive a worthless investment… but my children still live within me… and soon… you will as well!" Queen Bee dove downwards, her claws lengthening and fusing into a single blade on each hand. Tsukiyo JF raised the Magnum Bishop and fired several shots only to find his target suddenly coming at him from the side. He jumped out of the way of the attack only to receive a painful slash at his back. He fell to one knee in surprise but he used his momemtum to roll forward just in time as Queen Bee's stinger impaled the concrete where his head had been.

"Do realize now little boy…" Queen Bee hummed, pulling her stinger out from the ground and hovering closer to Tsukiyo JF. "Now that I've tasted your soul, there is nowhere you can run… nowhere you can hide… no face you can hide behind… I smell the warrior… I smell the boy… I smell—"

Tsukiyo JF suddenly had the Savage Bite Crystle in hand and blew it shrilly. Aluc's shining emerald eyes glowed brighter as he flew upwards to the Magnum Bishop "_Savage Bite!_" The little mechanical bat bit down upon the gun's sharklike fin. The green gems adorning the Moon Pawn Gauntlets lit up with a sudden intensity as watter slowly began to spin at the forefront of the gun's fanged barrel. Queen Bee smiled indulgently moved fast enough to leave random copies of herself circling around Tsukiyo JF.

"_Killer Vortex!_" The hammer came down and the Magnum Bishop's sudden recoil was enough to send Tsukiyo JF skidding back several feet. The bullet itself appeared no different than those before it save for one miniscule facet. Though she was well past it and moving in for the kill, to her sudden horror Queen Bee saw the bullet not only follow after her with cold precision, but its speed was increasing to exceed her own!

She screamed just in time as the bullet impacted against the small of her back, causing it to explode into a torrential whirlpool that reached upwards a good ten feet. The vortex spun faster and faster as its coloration faded from blue to red before suddenly splashing down like crimson rain with naught left of the Queen Bee but her dark soul.

Aluc shot upwards and chomped it in two big bites before landing in Tsukiyo JF's outstretched hand and depositing not one but two soul crystals in the rider's upturned palm. Tsukiyo JF regarded the shards with heavy trepidation in his heart for though the Crystle's shrill call was indeed quite loud, he had heard the soul bee's parting words to him.

_"I smell Daini…"_

* * *

"Excellent…" Cold eyes watched as the pieces representing the Queen Bee and her swarm exploded into a fine mist on the playing field. The tapping of claws echoed in the vast chamber as the eyes narrowed, a frown marring a terrible face. A hand reached out and watched as Tsukiyo's piece moved forward, flanked by his three companions.

"Hrmm… too many and I'll bring the others into this…" The claws tapped away as the eyes gazed over the multitude of space between Tsukiyo and the Goal at the board's end. Suddenly, a vicious smile and simple gesture of the hand and two new pieces appeared to stand before Tsukiyo and his forces. What made these pieces different from those before was not just that only one of them was dark like the darkstalkers before them but that the pieces were now surrounded by a massive ring of reploids.

"Can you do it?" A soft chuckle as a claw reached out to delicately touch the head of the smallest piece, one of a child no older than fifteen at best. "Can you sacrifice everything you have in that wretched city… to save her from those you swore to protect… even if it means revealing yourself to all of New Eden… I don't you can…"

A dark but sad chuckle.

"But then again… you take more after your mother don't you…? Daini Sotsu…"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

**

* * *

Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE...**

_Breaking Away_


	6. Breaking Away Pt1

**DISCLAIMER:** I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.

* * *

**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Breaking Away Pt. 1_

"_For as long as I could remember… I lived underneath a mask of humanity alongside my guardians, my one and only family in this wretched world… Without them, I'm not sure if I would have survived the hardships of being what I am… but sometimes I wonder, in the dark recesses of my soul, if I would have been better without them… the monsters that pretended to be human… looking back on it… I realize how much of a fool I really was… the real monsters… didn't wear masks…_"

* * *

Religion has been, for the most part, extinct for the last several decades. What good was prayer when there was no god left to hear them? What good was hope when death was a cold guarantee? Even the most pure of the Lightwalkers were without faith in this twisted world that was once their own a millions of lifetimes ago. Across Neo Urth, there was no faith except in one's strength and survival, the primordial rule of survival of the fittest having full reign once more. In the Eastern Plains of Chalice, where the hidden and protected haven of New Eden sat behind a twisted shield of human technology and monsterra magics. There was no religion here, the only faith is in the city's protectors, the Hunters, but even they were mortal though death was a concept most of them ignored futilely until their last breath.

Except for one.

The Church of the All-Seeing was as far from a church as one could be. Located on one of the more taller buildings of New-Eden, the Church was a sight to behold for decorated its circular structure were massive eyes that moved of their own accord as though the building itself were alive. An expensive affair it was to build but it helped the Church's message. It was a cruel reminder that need not be repeated but the Church and its people were adamant and no law of New Eden could deny them their piece. What was this message so cruel, so heartless, that only the truly insane would dare repeat it let alone worship it as though it were a god?

"_Chaos Sees All_."

The members of the Church were all human, not a single reploid or monsterra amongst them. The reploids saw their faith and reasoning as minute. The Lightwalkers and Darkstalkers both feared and hated Her for the promise She broke to them. No Lightwalker would dare consider the idea of joining the Church and what few Darkstalkers that were granted sanctuary in New Eden would sooner die.

Sadly, that case was one that occurred the most often.

* * *

'_How did I end up in this situation?_' Daini asked himself, pushing the young kitten further back behind him as the crowd drew closer. He had been minding his own business, really he was, and had every intention of finishing his errand without any problems. Now here he was with a bag of food as his only means of defense between himself and the young Darkstalker he was protecting. He winced as he felt her sharp claws dig into his shoulders but kept his place between her and the crowd. While Lightwalkers were the dominant monsterra in New Eden, there were a precious few species of Darkstalker that were allowed past New Eden's walls and given residence in the monolithic city.

Of course, there were a strict code of conduct a Darkstalker must adhere by to even be considered sight of the city but the top tiers consisted entirely of them never feeding on human blood or soul nor seek to do a human, or Lightwalker, harm. Altogether the number of Darkstalker breeds that were allowed into New Eden was in the single digit range and only one of them had what could be considered high numbers. The child behind him with braided hair and the ears and tail of a feline was a clear member of that species of Darkstalker.

* * *

**CATWOMEN**

_Type: _C-Class Darkstalker

One of the rare benign Darkstalkers, catwomen are unique in that they are born as normal human babies and grow into their feline attributes shortly before puberty sets in. As an all female race, Catwomen can only breed with normal human males and even then only female young have the potential to become a catwoman. Like other Darkstalkers, Catwomen are more active at night then during the day, as bright lights hurt their sensitive eyes. Because of their advanced sense of smell, several thousand times more powerful than a human's and equal to a werewolf's own, most Catwomen are employed as Search-&-Rescue for the forces of New Eden. Whether they want to or not.

* * *

Generally, catwomen were ignored by the human and reploid populace of New Eden, a silent form of racial prejudice. However, in the past several weeks, there have been more Darkstalker attacks than in the last three years combined and tensions amongst the citizens were high and all it would take to light the wick was one loud voice to precede the explosion.

Too bad for the little catgirl that the leading voice of the mob happened to have one powerful set of lungs.

He was a boy Daini's age and one that Dai himself was unfortunately well familiar with. He was one of the more frequent bullies he had endured torment from in his younger years and he only grew more cruel with age. Oh he never hurt Daini physically but whoever said the greater injuries were attained by sticks and stones? It was because of people like Otto that made Daini wonder just what was the point of his life, if the people he helped would only turn on each other in the end.

He had not seen nor heard what started the chase after the catgirl but he recognized Otto and others who shared similar sentiments, that anything not strictly human was something to be hated without reason, and Daini knew that whatever the fault, it did not lay with the girl.

"You're siding with that thing?" Otto asked, snidely waving at the quivering catgirl who flinched and hid herself further behind Daini, the hairs on her tail standing on end with fright. "I knew you were a junkyard-freak but I didn't think you were a dark-lover!"

Daini's eyes narrowed dangerously at the racial slurs. One against they who had no ilk against reploids, the other for Darkstalkers. Were Hedgeshock there with him, she'd have electrocuted Otto then and there regardless of her programming, which probably was a good thing at the moment.

"Tensions are high here in New Eden," said Daini, trying to stall for time. Where were the Hunters when you needed them? "We don't need your stupidity adding to it. What harm could this girl have possibly done to any of you?" He asked the crowd, stepping aside just enough for the girl to partially be seen. She was barely ten years old.

"She's a Darkstalker!" someone yelled out from within the crowd. "We don't need anything more than that!"

"She'll devour our souls at the turn of a head!"

"Think of the children!"

"We don't want their kind here, whether the Council approves or not!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" A monstrously loud voice yells and the crowd turned to see two figures, causing many to pale with sudden fear. The first was painted in hues of red and gold, his metal body shining thanks to the flames that served as his beastly mane. Though by no means the tallest of bioid-type reploids, he was still quite tall compared to a normal human. Designed after the former king of beasts, he served as guardian of the Fire District and general to the Maverick Hunters. His name?

Fistleo.

The other was monstrous both in shape and form, one of the rarest of Lightwalkers. A creature composed of two different animals, the hind portions of the regal lion and forequarters of the majestic eagle. Like others of his ilk, his of a vibrant shade of color, an almost angelic red that marked him as flight leader. The armor that melted into his feathered flesh was of the hardest iron for his body while his wings were bound by shining gold, stretching beyond the feathers and formed into sharpened blades. His name? Ortho. His species?

Gryphon.

* * *

**GRYPHON**

_Type: _B-Class Lightwalker

Often-times referred to as the Winged Knights of the monsterra world, gryphons are by far the most honorable of monsterra. Trained from birth to be perfect aerial combatants, the skies are the gryphons' domain. Because of their sense of honor, gryphons have had a strong animosity towards any being capable of flight without wings, particularly those of technological origin. However, once you've earned a gryphon's respect, it takes a mighty big crime to break it, especially in the concerns of a debt of some sort. If one saves a gryphon's life, it will do the same. If one saves a gryphon's wings, they earn themselves the most trustworthy partner of all.

* * *

It was hard to tell which of the two Hunters were the angriest for while the flames of Fistleo's mane were blazing brightly, Ortho was far bigger than the lion-type reploid and was using his size to his advantage, his wings spread and his head lowered so his blazing blue eyes met those of the crowd. While Ortho was a member of the Maverick Hunters, he was not a member of the District Guardians, of which Fistleo was chief commander of, but he held a similar rank to the Fire District Guardian amongst the Lightwalkers of New Eden, at least those who served as Hunters.

While the two held no special love for Darkstalkers, they held the order of New Eden in high esteem and any citizen, no matter the race, who failed to hold that order was less than dirt in their eyes.

Fistleo stepped forward, his clawed feet scrapping fine grooves into the asphalt as his emerald optics looked through the crowd until they fell upon Daini and the catgirl behind him. Staring at the pair for a long moment, Fistleo seemed to consider the two before turning and regarding the crowd. "Under the decree of the Council any Darkstalker who falls under the criteria of being benign are welcomed within the walls of New Eden. This child is not yet old enough to do anything more than appear different to you, and were she older she'd have strength to defend herself against bigots like you."

"You're just going to let them go?!" cried Otto. "After all that's happened, you're just going to let that creature run free?!"

Ortho stepped between the crowd and their target, standing just behind Fistleo. "She has committed no crime and we cannot arrest people for reasons of our own making otherwise we'd arrest you for being a loudmouthed bigot."

"Move along," intoned Fistleo. "Or we will bring you under charges of instigating a mob."

The crowd dispersed, some quickly others slowly, with Otto being the last to leave with a silent glare aimed at Daini. He screamed in terror as flames appeared in Fistleo's claws, his arm pulled back as if to through the fireball at the boy who took off like a frightened rabbit. Ortho watched the boy run off before looking down at his reploid friend.

"Was that really necessary, old friend?"

"Necessary? Not really. Fun?" Fistleo chuckled and extinguished the flames in his claws. Ortho shook his head before turning and looking down at Daini and the young catgirl who looked ready to faint from fright. Seeing this, Fistleo pulled at Ortho's shoulder. "Back up, Ortho. You're scaring the child."

Ortho seemed surprised at that and hastily took several large steps back while Fistleo kneeled down to look Daini and his new friend in the eye. Taking a quick scan of the young catgirl and finding her unharmed, Fistleo turned his optics to Daini. "You did a good job in protecting her, son." Fistleo turned his attention back to the catgirl. "What say we take you home now little one?"

The catgirl made a rather unhappy sound and pushed herself further into Daini's back, much to his embarrassment. Fistleo sighed and stood up, stepping back to give the young Darkstalker some space. Ortho tilted his head and looked down at the Chief Maverick Hunter.

"Who is the scary one, precisely?" Ortho asked with a shake of his head. "After that crowd, having us escort her home is something she does not need." The gryphon looked down the streets, eagle eyes narrowed. "But I don't trust another mob not to form and attack her again."

"Agreed." Fistleo looked down at Daini. "You've done enough son, and I do not wish to ask more of than what you've already done—"

"I'll take her home." Daini interrupted. "I don't mind, not really."

"Hrmm, so I gather. Alright." Fistleo nodded. "We'll make sure the way is clear for you." With that said, Fistleo started walking ahead, as Ortho spread his wings and took off into the sky above. Daini waited until both Hunters were out of sight before looking back at the catgirl who now, at last, released her vice-like grip on his jacket.

"So where to Miss…?"

"…… Pico… my name is Pico."

* * *

"Thank you again for protecting her. She's had so much hardship in her life…"

"Really, it was nothing." Daini watched as the children played in the other room, surprised not by the number but by the kinds of children playing therein. Humans, monsterra, even a few reploids were scattered about the large play room not in their own separate groups but meshed and intermingled so that no one child was alone. It was… strange… to see such equality amongst them. Even the Darkstalker children, young catgirls like Pico and even a sasquatch cub, were having a good time playing with the human children in the room and they with them. "When she told me she lived at an orphanage… I was…"

"Surprised? Yes, I'm sure you would be." The catwoman, Grace, nodded, her gaze entirely on the children now. "I can honestly say that Felicity House is the only one of its kind in all of New Eden."

'_If not Neo Urth…_' Daini thought to himself. He spent his whole life in New Eden and he knew the city well. '_These kids will never be adopted… This is the only home they'll ever have._' Still he was curious. "Strange name for an orphanage though."

"Well that's more because of—" Grace interrupted herself as she heard the main door open, a soft smile appearing on her face. "Ah, here she is now."

"I came as soon as I got your call, is Pico alright?" Daini turned and found himself surprised yet again. It was another catwoman, one who was dressed as though she was just coming from a motocross race from the full bodysuit she was wearing, with the zipper pulled down enough to allow her to breathe thanks to her ample assets pulling the leather like material rather tightly across her chest. Like most catwomen, she had stunning blue hair that fell back in waves with one long curl falling down past her feline eyes.

"She's fine Felicia, thanks to this young man here." Grace placed a hand on Daini's shoulder, noting how he twitched at the contact. "This is Daini Sotsu. Daini, this is our administrator and founder, Felicia Jaud."

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Daini fell back on his lessons of etiquette with Rikuo and took Felicia's offered hand and kissed it. '_It tickles._'

Felicia blinked in surprise before smiling with a slight teasing light in her eyes. "A little young aren't you to be hitting on older women?" She giggled at his embarrassed blush. "Though I gotta say, it's not often I see someone willing to help a Darkstalker."

"Maybe what you can see with your eyes isn't all there is to this world." Daini replied back before he blinked as the light in Felicia's eyes dimmed.

"Heh… that's really gotten around huh?" She sighed before a fake smile plastered itself onto her face. "Well I'm going to go say hi to the kids before I clean up for dinner, okay Grace?" Without another word, Felicia stepped into the playroom, greeting the kids with a truer smile on her face though it did not reach her eyes.

"I didn't mean to insult her," said Daini, wondering just what he did or said to get such a reaction from the catwoman.

"It isn't anything you did," sighed Grace, turning away and leading Daini back to the main parlor where the doors of the Felicity House lay. "Didn't you think it the least bit odd for an administrator of an orphanage to be out and dressed like that?"

"If I were to guess, I'd say she was riding a motorcycle." Daini looked at the helmet that was hanging on the coat rack, a custom-made helmet with ear guards fitted onto it. "Why I don't know."

"She's looking for someone." Grace answered, sadly looking back down the hall where children's laughter could easily be heard with a woman's voice amongst them. "Someone I don't think she'll ever find here in New Eden."

"How do you know?" asked Daini, almost dreading the answer, a common one heard every day.

"He might very well be dead but I doubt that old dog could lie down so easily without holding his promise." Grace said mostly to herself.

"If he's not dead then what could he be doing?" asked Daini.

"Surviving." Grace answered simply. "It's a very cruel world, this planet we live on."

"Yeah… yeah I know…" Daini's hair fell over his eyes, shadowing them from the falling sun's light.

"Well, I thank you again for protecting Pico and bringing her back unharmed, but you best be getting home before the sun sets. This city… the night is no longer a safe time outside locked doors."

"Yeah I guess it isn't." Daini took his jacket off from the coat rack, knocking the helmet enough for a small photograph to fall out. He quickly picked it up but couldn't help but stare at it. "Is this… him?"

Grace took a look for herself and sighed once more. "Yes, that's him."

"What… is his name?"

* * *

"Jon Talbain."

Rikuo nearly choked on his tea from the shock, being fortunate enough to spit it out in a thick mist. Emily gasped sharply, nearly dropping the book she was reading while her brother Victor rose to his full height, his beady eyes focusing upon the one who spoke. However, none of them were the focus of the speaker but the one the name had been spoken to.

Gallon tilted his cup of coffee around, watching the dark liquid swirl in slow motions, trying to ignore how tight his grip was on the cup or how his nails had lengthened into claws. "Do you think I should be surprised? That name doesn't mean anything to me anymore…"

"It doesn't mean anything? It's your real name isn't it?" asked Daini, keeping his distance. "Why did you change it?"

"That is a story you're not old enough to deal with yet." Gallon answered, taking a drink from his coffee.

"Felicia thinks I'm old enough." The cup shattered in Gallon's hands and Daini was surprised to find himself lifted up from the ground with an angry werewolf growling right into his face.

"Where did you hear that name? _WHERE IS SHE_?!"

"JON!" Rikuo was up, his chair clattering to the ground behind him as green scales began to sprout through his flesh. "That's enough!"

Victor cracked his knuckles, lightning dancing along his arms. Gallon stared at them each in turn before his beastial eyes focused upon Daini's face, drinking in his pain and fear. Humanity returned to Gallon's eyes and he released the boy as he shifted out of his monsterra form. He stared down at Daini in shock, his hands trembling before coldness fell over his eyes.

"I'm going out." He said as he headed out the door without so much as a backwards glance. "Don't follow me. I'll know if you do." He slammed the door shut behind him.

"Daini alright?" Victor intoned, picking the boy up and setting him on his feet.

"Y-Yeah… I never saw him that mad before." Daini loosened his collar, looking at the door, noting the indentations from where Gallon had grabbed it.

"You brought up a lot of bad memories for him, Daini." Rikuo replaced his chair back up and beckoned Daini over to him. Sitting next to the boy, Rikuo asked, "Where did you hear about Gallon's real name?"

"At one of the orphanages… Felicity House."

"Felicity House?" repeated Emily, sounding shocked. "Don't tell me—"

"Felicia's here in New Eden and likely looking for our canine friend…" sighed Rikuo. "This complicates things. If she finds Jon… I honestly have no idea what will happen."

"Bad things." Victor spoke up.

Rikuo smiled at the giant man's grumbling words. "Yes I suppose so."

"Why though?" asked Daini. "Who is Felicia to Gallon?"

Rikuo laughed but it was an empty sound. "It wasn't obvious?

"Felicia is—_was_—Jon's fiancée."

* * *

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

**

* * *

Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE...**

_Breaking Away Pt. 2  
_


	7. Breaking Away Pt2

It seems almost like forever since I last updated Tsukiyo and I apologize for that. I was struck by the one thing that all authors fear to have.

Bahamut: Writer's block?

What? No, writer's funk. I just could not get into the groove of Tsukiyo. Everything I wrote was just... not true to the story. Now I get why Kuzco gets so grumpy whenever someone throws off his groove.

Mewtwo: Grumpy... that's a new way of putting it.

Anyway, I've got my groove back and, hopefully, you'll be seeing more updates soon. Probably not for Tsukiyo, cause now... well, let's just say the opening arc is now approaching at its climax.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:** I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.

* * *

**Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: Return to the Equilibrium**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Breaking Away Pt. 2_

"_Ever since I was a little boy… I've had this same Dream… For years I'd wake up in a cold terror, the memories of the Dream lost to me with the rising dawn… until came the day that I was to meet her… A young girl lying alone in the darkness, crying for someone, anyone, to reach out to her, to save her… I tried so hard to reach her but every time I came close I'd wake up… It wasn't until years past that I realized that my Dream wasn't truly a dream… and that the girl crying out to me in the darkness would be a pivotal player in the events to come…"_

* * *

She was so cold… the nights were always cold but this one especially so. They had stopped feeding her and the last of the soda bottles had run dry hours ago. All she had for protection from the cold was a flimsy white dress, pristine as the day she was given it despite the grime of her cell. She pulled her legs close, the chain rattling along the freezing stone floor, disturbing the decomposing cardboard boxes that lay scattered in messy piles throughout the room. She was shivering, her breath escaping through lips pale from never seeing the light of the sun. She had assumed that her old home was a prison but compared to this wretched place she would gladly go back there.

At least then her mother might still be alive.

She stilled as she heard footsteps drawing near thinking perhaps if she pretended hard enough, they might think her dead and she'd have a chance to escape. But no, the footsteps came and went, not even pausing at the door to look upon her like some kind of exotic animal. She shivered and drew her legs tighter to her chest. Were one to look at her they would think her of reploid descent thanks to the pale green hair atop her head, cut short like a boy's and done with little style. Others would call her a monsterra for the large feathered wings that adorned her back, Lightwalker or Darkstalker it mattered not for surely she wasn't human.

They would be wrong.

Nausicaä is human, one hundred percent.

She thinks herself alone in her misery, that there's not a single person out there in the entire world that would care if she lived or died in this miserable place. Her captors would eventually forget about her, leaving her to waste away, back to the dust whence she came. She was assured in her belief that she would never experience the sheer unbridled joy of testing her wings and reaching the skies, feel the gentle touch of kind hands enveloping her in a protective embrace, or the velvet touch of a man's lips to her own.

She was raised these last years alone and she would die alone.

She was wrong.

The whole of the Church shook from its top spire to its lowest foundations as something struck its walls with the force of a massive war hammer. She raised herself up on her hands but collapsed back down, too weak from hunger to have the strength to do more than lie there as the sounds of a decidedly one-sided battle took place within the church walls. Bullets were blazing and she recognized the sounds of grenades going off, shaking layers of dust from the rafters above. There came a sudden sound like the roar of a beast, too high pitched for normal human ears but she it and felt tears come to her eyes. She felt no physical pain but her heart recognized the sadness in the scream, the sheer and utter despair of loss and loneliness.

Silence.

The wall to the outside, the one that had a window in the small corner that allowed her sight of the skyline of New Eden and not much else, shook as a strange mark appeared on the rocky surface before the wall shattered like glass. An armored figure appeared where the wall stood, standing on the edge of freedom with the pale crescent moon shining behind him. For a long time, there was silence between the two of them until his clawed hand twitched and the chain wrapped around his forearm flashed forward, whipping at the shackle adorning her ankle and shattering it to pieces and leaving her unarmed.

"Fiat ustitia ruat caelum." Tsukiyo inclined his head at Nausicaä's confusion, to the fear in her eyes. "Let justice be done though the heavens fall."

* * *

_FLASHBACK BEGIN:_

_Earlier that day… shortly before dawn…_

Gallon stood before the Felicity House on the far side of the street, hidden away in the shadows of one of New Eden's numerous alleyways. He watched and waited as the sun just began to peak on the horizon before the door to the orphanage opened and a female figure stumbled out, still weary and tired for more sleep. He watched as she strode over to her parked motorcycle, too tired to notice the damage done around it but the bike itself literally untouched.

She took a seat and, with another loud yawn, placed her helmet atop her head before she revved the engine. The sudden roar of it seemed to do the job her alarm clock failed to do for she suddenly sat ramrod straight with renewed conviction flowing through her. She released the stand and eased forward onto the street and, taking a note of the strange absence of patheon foot soldiers, pulled a wheelie and shot off down the streets toward the farther territories of New Eden.

Gallon watched her go until she was completely out of his sight before turning back to the matter at paw. Pulling the still struggling human up along the wall until he was hanging by his clawed grip, Gallon's eyes shined with fresh ferality as he glared at the young man. "You're going to be a good little boy and tell me what I want to know. You aren't going to scream, you aren't going to fight, and maybe, just maybe, you'll live to see another dawn. You try something foolish and I'll put you down. Permanently."

He pulled the boy down, so that they were nose-to-nose. "Are we clear?"

"Tra-Transparently!"

"Good. Now… tell me… humans aren't supposed to be carrying reploid tech on them, unless they're a part of those useless Hunters… where did you get the gun?" Gun was not the correct term for the weapon in question as a gun constitutes as a small hand weapon capable of damaging a single person for every bullet. The weapon in question, now lying in a useless pile of scrapped pieces, was one of the laser-cannons of the Hunters, specifically one capable of a "charged attack" that could, with adequate power, blow out several E-Class Darkstalkers to dust… or to put it in terms of the man's design, destroy a small building.

One just like the Felicity House.

"Wh-What ma-akes you think I'm not a H-Hunter?" Gallon couldn't help but smile, revealing the fact that his teeth had all sharpened into deadly fangs. He didn't answer but merely pointed down at the growing wet spot at the front of the man's trousers. "Sh-Shit!"

"Piss is more like it. You gonna cough up the truth or…" Gallon's grip tightened painfully on the man's throat. "Will I have to do this the hard way?"

"C-C-Chaos Sees ALL!" There was a crunch and foam suddenly appeared in the man's mouth as his eyes rolled to the top of his skull. Gallon hastily let the corpse drop to the ground with a distasteful growl.

"Suicide pills… hidden in the teeth no doubt… But you told me exactly what I needed to know." He frowned turning and looking down the road before looking back the way he came, the way towards home. A shadow fell over him and he instantly looked heavenward to see the Dragon's Keep floating past far overhead. He scowled and vanished back into the shadows.

"Damn your promises."

* * *

Daini paced back and forth in his room, his mind in utter turmoil over a dream, the same damned dream he had been plagued with for most of his life. He hated the Dream not because of anything in particular because that was the point. Every time he had that Dream, he would wake up with his heart nearly bursting out of his chest, eyes wide with fear, and the memories of the Dream vanished like smoke. Daini never remembered any kind of details about the Dream but for a faint feeling of fear … of despair … of love… and of rage born out of hatred… Not once did he remember anything else.

Until today.

A girl, the same girl from all the Dreams of before, aging with him through the years, her smiles fading into tears of despair as a tower became a cage, locked away in the darkness and crying for someone, anyone, to reach out to her. To save her. He remembered now of all those times before, always running to her, always stretching a hand out to reach her but never making it, always waking up without any memory of her or her despair.

Well, that was different now.

Now, he knew her face. Now, he knew her tears. Now, he knew where she was.

Now all he had to do was go and rescue her.

"Are you planning something stupid?"

Daini paused in his pacing, eyes still focused on the floor. "Does it really matter to you?"

"Not particularly." A shrug within the shadows. "Unless it involves a massive amount of bloodshed, then you've my undivided attention." Daini remained silent and that intrigued him. "Well, well… just what is it that you plan on doing? Are you honestly thinking of fighting against someone who isn't a Darkstalker now?"

"… If there's one thing I've learned, living here with all of you… is that sometimes… the worst kind of monsters are the ones with a human face." Daini stepped out onto the balcony, his eyes narrowed as he focused on one particular building in the distance, one of the tallest in all of New Eden, marked with the eyes of Chaos Herself.

Red eyes shined in the shadows, following the boy's own and a fanged smile lit up on a metallic face. "The Church of the All Seeing… My, when you fall you fall hard don't you?" A flutter of mechanical wings and a small weight fell on Daini's shoulder. "Shall we go?"

"… No. When the sun sets…"

"Hrmm, yes I suppose the added benefit of the darkness would be necessary." Red eyes narrowed. "You know that they'll come for you. With everything they've got. You do this, and you'll be no different than a Darkstalker in their eyes."

Daini smiled but it was an empty one devoid of its usual warmth. "Hasn't it always been the idea… that our stay here was a temporary one?"

"You think yourself ready to face the world? Don't make me laugh. You killed many a Darkstalker, I'll give you that much, but only when your hands are stained by the blood of others, Lightwalker, human, or even reploids… only then will you have my respect. Until then, you are a child still and your story is far from finished."

* * *

Felicia rode for the better part of the day, stopping only long enough to make a few calls back to the Felicity House and for a bite to eat. She ignored the glares, hateful as always, and the stares, fear was a rising trend in New Eden, before she went back to her search. The boy from yesterday… Daini Sotsu… he was quite the oddity to Felicia. Though he is human, he didn't discriminate between the races in any way. His best friend was a reploid and monsterra were monsterra, regardless if they walked in the light or stalked in the shadows. She had spent a bit of her morning trying to find him but New Eden was huge and the people populating it were the vast majority of humans still left on Neo Urth.

Admittedly, she had a likelier chance of finding the boy than her fia—

"Stop it, Felicia…" She muttered to herself. She was stopped at one of the many backstreets that bordered the boundary lines of the Wood and Metal Districts. "You'll just break your heart all over again…"

"Oh, I'm sure it will be much worse than that for you, demon!" Felicia whirled to find a man behind her with a charged-plasma grenade launcher aimed straight at her, energy building up within the barrel of the miniature hand-cannon. She leapt clear, tossing her helmet at the man just as he pulled the trigger. Her bike exploded into a flaming scrap but at least she was alive to deal with this idiot.

She raced forward, her hand raised up to slash the gun to shreds when, out the corner of her eyes, she saw another gun was raised at her, its projectile well under way of hitting her. She closed her eyes in a wince, expecting a burning agony to impact her, strong enough to injure her but she was C-Class. She'd survive through worse, and it wasn't like these people were the Hunters.

Instead of pain, she felt herself grabbed from behind and tossed high into the air. She screamed like a little girl but enough her voice couldn't drown out the roar from below. Her eyes widened at the familiarity of the sound and she twisted tightly in midair. Her feet hit the wall of a building and she rebounded back toward the fight but by then it was half-over. Weapons lay in hacked-up pieces and the men who attacked her were regrouping with more of their fellows who were armed to the proverbial teeth with stolen tech. Her savior growled low in his throat and rushed forward as his body was enveloped by youki that form the shape of a dragon's head.

Ever see a bowling ball manage a perfect strike? Well imagine that on a larger scale and with a little more flash thrown in and you'd have half an idea as to what happened next.

The men screamed as they flew through the air and landed hard to the unforgiving ground, their bodies broken and their minds lost to the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness. Their attacker snorted in disdain and bent down to pick up a dropped handgun. Standing behind, just out of reach, stood Felicia with her hands to her chest, daring to not even breathe lest she break whatever spell had been cast upon her to see the man who couldn't, nay _shouldn't_, be here before her as he now was.

It was possible that it was a case of mistaken identity for surely there were others of his ilk but the possibility of one of _them_ being in New Eden was astronomical at best! No, even back then he was the last of his kind. This Darkstalker, this werewolf, could be no one else.

"Jon…?"

The werewolf stiffened and the gun in his claws was crushed beneath his powerful claws. The hackles of his neck rose and a pleasant shiver flowed down his spine at her voice. The Darkstalker sighed and with his passing breath, melted back to his human form, one that most recognized as a guardian of Daini Sotsu, a man simply known as Gallon. Felicia knew him by a different name.

"Jon!" She leapt at the man and embraced him tightly, pressing her face against his bare chest as tears flowed from her eyes.

"Felicia…" Gallon-no Jon Talbain, sighed and returned her embrace gently, mindful of how strong he still was even in human form. He suddenly hissed in pain as Felicia's claws dug into his back as she pushed herself away from him.

"You son-of-a-bitch! How dare you just run off and leave me like that! No goodbye, no letter, no nothing! All these years and I thought you were dead you lousy bastard!" She screamed at him, her eyes shining with rage though tears still fell from them.

"Felicia I'm sor—"

"No, you don't you dare apologize! No apology will ever make up for what you did!" Jon realized she was right, at least in that regard, so he chose to apologize without words. He suddenly leaned down and pressed his lips against Felicia's own and for a brief moment she felt inclined to bite him for it, Felicia returned the kiss just as passionately as the earth shook under feet. So into the near-forgotten actions she was undertaking with Jon, Felicia failed to realize that the quake was not caused through their shared actions but the actions of another.

An act that would invoke great and irreversible consequences…

_:FLASHBACK END_

* * *

"Fiat ustitia ruat caelum." Tsukiyo inclined his head at Nausicaä's confusion, to the fear in her eyes. "Let justice be done though the heavens fall."

Nausicaä tried to speak, she really did, but her throat was terribly parched and she swallowed back her words with a painful grimace. She shuffled back from the figure, her eyes shining with fresh tears that fell down her pale face. Her wings quivered at the sight of him for though she had never seen one before, she could feel the Darkness within the armored Rider, the youki that flowed like blood through his veins. As though reading her mind, Tsukiyo bowed his head as his body suddenly became like melted steel as a mechanical bat lifted off from his perch to rest amongst the rafters of the dusty chamber. The steel shattered like glass and burst into steam upon impact of the ground but she did not see this.

She saw him and her tears could only increase but this came not from despair or fear, no this came from a sudden hope that burned inside her heart. She knew him for as long as she could remember, the sweet little toddler that played with her, the boy who stood beside her, letting her lean against him whenever she was tired of the real world, the young man who screamed her name as he did everything in his power to reach through the nightmares of live and relive the memories of old. Though they had never once met in the waking world, she knew him by name and it was by that name she suddenly found voice to speak.

"Daini…"

The teenage boy smiled and nodded, his eyes shining with tears though he stubbornly refused them to fall. "Nausicaä…"

The pale-green haired girl tried to rise to her feet but she couldn't find the strength but she didn't have to, Daini was already at her side, one arm wrapped carefully around her trim waist, the other holding her arm across his shoulders. "I'm sorry that I didn't come sooner Nausicaä…"

"You came…" She whispered, leaning heavily against Daini who easily supported her weight, what little of it she had, "that's all that matters…"

Daini pulled her closer and closed his eyes, sighing softly to himself. The moment of peace was short-lived as Aluc flew down to land atop the boy's head with a fanged smirk on his flat face. "They come for you, Master. Will you run and hide like a cowardly dog?"

"Shut up, Aluc." Daini's dark brown eyes seemed to shine red but the light died away as he carefully guided himself and Nausicaä to the hole in the wall that led to the outside, to the city. It was the first time that Nausicaä had seen New Eden fully and she was captivated by its beauty before reality set her free. Beauty was only as deep as the skin and though it was indeed beautiful, New Eden was not as beautiful inside.

Sirens and flashing lights steadily approached until there was a sudden roar of jet fire as aerial-type patheon soldiers made it to the desecrated Church, weapons drawn and aimed for instant death. Airships arrived close behind, the back runners carrying the human members of the Hunters while the forefront was populated by the Maverick Hunters themselves, including half of the District Guardians.

Hovering high above the lead aircraft, flying on his own wings, was a Guardian of the Thunder District, Pegasolt Éclair, one of the rare but powerful monsterra-type bioid whose form was based on the Pegasus of legends. He was armed with a pair of electrified lances. Hanging from the underside of the lead airship was a Guardian of the Earth District, Noble Mandrago, another monsterra-type though his shape was based on the dark, and thankfully extinct, mandrake. Though his robotic vines, tipped with poisonous claws, were busy holding on, the drill bits that served as his legs were united into a massive drill, primed and ready for combat.

On one side of the airship was a Guardian of the Water District, the only one capable of leaving it in fact. Shaped and designed off the basilisk water-lizard, Basil Hydroglide is by no means the most heavily armed of the Guardians, he only had the blades adorning his head and back and those were lightweight at best, but he is by far the fastest, especially on water. Before him stood a Guardian of the Metal District, Vulturon the avian-type bioid who held his guitar tightly in his claws, his optics narrowed in his skull-shaped head.

On the other side stood the Guardian of the Ice District, one of the two female Guardians, Poler Karmous, the largest and heaviest of the Maverick Hunters whose girth managed to tip the aircraft on its side slightly. Shaped like a polar bear with an attitude to match, Poler was a walking freezer, her massive paws tipped in sharp icicles with clouds of frosty air pouring out of her vents like smoke. Before her, and far lighter in comparison, was one of the Guardian Brothers of the Wood District, Kuwagust Anchus. The stag-beetle type bioid had won the coin toss with his brother and so was standing with their fellow Guardians with his head bowed, his optics shadowed as he took on the scene before them.

At the forefront stood the General of the Maverick Hunters and the taskmaster guardian of the training grounds of the Fire District, the robotic lion with a mane of fire and claws of molten steel, Fistleo. The old reploid stood at the nose of the aircraft, his claws carefully piercing the necessary grips as he stood with clawed fists at his side. Vulturon, having the better optics of the Guardians present, had already taken a snapshot of the pair of younglings and had sent the image to all Hunters present. Most did not recognize them, some had a faint inkling of déjà vu, and a few knew at least one of them by name.

No one moved, all eyes of the gathered Hunters looking towards their general whose robotic shoulders seemed to sag with a fresh weight upon them. Fistleo's optics shined as he activated a private line with Pegasolt. The Thunder District Guardian was the adopted father of Hedgeshock, and thus knew Daini far better than anyone else present.

_"What is that boy doing here, Pegasolt? Is he a member of the Church?"_

_"No, sir he isn't. I'm sorry sir but I'm afraid I know only as much as was given to us by the Council."_

_"Hrmm, I was afraid you'd say that."_ Anything further that was to be said was put to an immediate halt as a spotlight finally lit itself upon the pair of teenagers, startling the girl enough for her to spread out one of her glistening white wings to shade herself from the intense light. Immediately, there were cries of outrage from the Lightwalkers assembled, those flying on their own wings preparing to dive down and snatch the girl away but were halted by a fierce scream from Orthos.

"SILENCE ALL OF YOU! Use your senses for Light's sake! She isn't one of us!" The gryphon's eyes narrowed as he glared down at Nausicaä. "She doesn't have monsterra blood in her veins…" He repeated more to himself than his side of the troops.

"We will present her to Council and allow them to judge whether or not she may be permitted to stay in New Eden." Fistleo spoke to all the Hunters through the radio but still, somehow, Daini heard him.

Daini's grip tightened on Nausicaä's waist, pulling her closer to him. "It doesn't matter what she is!" He called to the Hunters. "She's alive and that's all that matters! What more does a person need to be counted as a living being to you?!"

"Daini… I'm sorry but she's… I don't know what she is and that's exactly the point. She could be dangerous." Pegasolt slowly approached the two. "She's going to have to come with us."

Now it was Nausicaä whose grip suddenly strengthened as she watched with wide frightened eyes. "No… no, don't let them take me, please Daini."

Daini knew, in that exact moment, the choice he had been weighing just hours before was at last made and, come Hell or high-water, he would never regret it. He put himself between Nausicaä and the Hunters, a living shield that stood in defiance of their authority. "I'm sorry, sir… but she's not the dangerous one here…" Daini took a deep breath as the faint highlights of turquoise in his hair suddenly brightened just before his eyes snapped open to reveal shining, red eyes. "Aluc!"

"As you wish, Master…!" A small robotic jaw spread wide, revealing four gleaming fangs of steel and ivory before they bit down on the boy's neck. A sudden flash of light and the sound of steel chains and there was a strange belt now adorning the boy's waist with a buckle not unlike a bat's roost. Daini gripped Aluc tightly and placed him on the roost of his belt.

"Unlock!" Chains surrounded the boy, covering him from sight before shattering like glass. The gathered Hunters all screamed in pained shock at the sudden spike of youki.

He wore an obsidian bodysuit made of a leather like material while his armor was, for the most part, made of a shining silver, a stark contrast to his nature and power, except for his chest which was colored a dark red like the muscles of a human chest cavity. The rest of his torso armor was bulky, especially about the shoulders where they were made to resemble clawed hands spread like the wings of a bat. Both of his gauntlets looked as though they were locked in place made all the more obvious by the thick chains that were wrapped around them. His helmet's visor was shaped like that of a bat's or perhaps the fangs of one, it was hard to tell the difference though as they were a vibrant shade of gold. A small crown like a crescent moon marked the helmet's brow and the mouthpiece was looked like a pair of vicious claws were holding it to the helmet. As a finishing touch, there was a small topknot of blood-red hair at the back of the black helmet.

Daini Sotsu was gone. In his place stood Kamen Rider Tsukiyo.

* * *

Jon's ears twitched and he glanced upwards at the city's skyline where he could see the faint sign of flashing lights, sirens echoing off the towers. His eyes narrowed and he looked down at the sleeping Felicia. The two had an impressive make-out session that bordered on the erotic but, being in a public setting, the two managed to control their hormones. Didn't mean that he couldn't put the catwoman into a hormonal meltdown with the appropriate touch at just the right place.

The wolfish grin still hadn't left his face.

Now though, the sweet break from the harshness of reality was over and he would have to leave his love behind once again. However… this time he knew things would turn out differently, especially if he played his cards right. Jon pulled out an envelope, the same envelope he had carried with him nigh two decades. On its front written in his script was a name and contained therein… well, that is a story for a later point. Instinctively knowing that Daini would soon be in desperate need of his help, Jon left the letter in Felicia's hand and walked away, not stopping to look back because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from staying.

* * *

"_Sonic Swarming!_" Sonic waves burst from the palms of Tsukiyo's hands, too widespread to do any kind of permanent damage to the Hunters but powerful enough to crash their flight gear, especially those of the assembled aircraft. Not sparing any time to see if his attack worked as well as he hoped, Tsukiyo whipped out a skull-topped Crystle and blew.

"_Come, Bloodbooster!_" called Aluc just before a terrible scream came from down below. Tsukiyo nodded and scooped up Nausicaä in a bridal carry. "Keep your wings tucked in." He warned his passenger before he stepped over the edge of the building. He ran along the wall of the towering Church, increasing his speed as Nausicaä screamed first in terror then in joy as the wind sped past them, ruffling the feathers of her wings with instinctual familiarity. The glass beneath Tsukiyo's feet shattered as he ran until he suddenly leapt away from the tower, only halfway down its length. As he flew through the air, there came another shrill scream before the Bloodbooster Cycle appeared onto the scene, its skeletal wings spread wide.

Tsukiyo landed atop the demonic motorcycle and quickly placed Nausicaä before him before gripping the handlebars tightly and kicking the ignition into high gear. The Cycle's skull-like head roared as its exhaust pipes exploded with purple-black flames as it shot forward the rest of the way to land atop a neighboring building. Skidding the bike to a halt, Tsukiyo looked back and saw that, while the humans and reploids were scrambling to regain control, the Lightwalkers were making a dive for them, Ortho at the fore with eagle-eyes blazing in primordial fury.

Tsukiyo whipped out another Crystle, this one colored green and shaped like a fin, and blew it, producing a sound like whale song. "_C'mere, Magnum Bishop!_" called Aluc as the lenses of his eyes turned a shining green.

Tsukiyo held up his right hand just in time to grab the handgun that appeared onto the scene with a sudden roar of rushing water. The handgun was similar in form to a revolver but was topped with a jagged fin with its barrel shaped like face of a demonic shark complete with miniature fangs. Despite its design and purpose, the weapon was colored in stunning shades of sea green with stripes in fine tropical hues. With a sound of crushed glass, the Moon Pawn Gauntlets broke free of their chains with the emerald gems shining brilliantly. Tsukiyo's arms and chest remained unchanged save for the armor of his legs which, aside from gaining a scaly green coloration, now were bedecked with webbed fins that stuck out a good seven inches from the outer side of Tsukiyo's legs.

He was now Tsukiyo Jager Form.

"_Aqua Spread._" Tsukiyo JF pulled the trigger of the Magnum Bishop and released a literal storm of bullets upon the converging Lightwalkers. The aquatic bullets hit their mark and the Lightwalkers screamed with fury as their wings were suddenly enveloped by ice and they fly like stones. Even Ortho did not escape the attack but, to be fair, the higher payload was aimed directly at him than the weaker ones following him.

The Rider's armor flashed and suddenly, Tsukiyo was back in Null Form, with the blazing comet that was once the Magnum Bishop flying back towards home. The Dark Rider turned his bike and followed after his dismissed weapon with the newly regained chains of his Gauntlets now wrapped securely around Nausicaä's waist as a crude seatbelt.

The Bloodbooster rode across the rooftops, using its wings and flames to give itself a sort of propulsive jump to the next building until the free reign of the streets became too much to ignore and it fell to them, bouncing a few times before moving at greater speeds than before. Tsukiyo took several unnecessary turns and half-circles, constantly looking back over his shoulder but no ground troops followed him. Turning a sharp left, he saw why.

A small squadron of Golem mechaniloids stood between Tsukiyo and the last main road towards salvation. Twelve in all, three each to the four standard types from the Lightning, Ice, Fire and Metal Districts. They stood in organized rows so that that the only way past was to either go a whole other way or the direct approach. A Crystle made of glimmering amethyst cut into the shape of a fist appeared in Tsukiyo's right hand. He glanced down at his passenger. "I'll need both hands for this… Bloodbooster!"

The bike roared and rib like bones protruded from the engine, extending over the surprised girl like organic seatbelts. Nodding in satisfaction, Tsukiyo brought the Crystle to his lips and blew it with a sound akin to a pipe organ. Aluc's eyes flashed purple as he cried, "_C'mere, Juggernaut Knight!_"

Tsukiyo raised both hands up just in time as a massive war hammer appeared onto the scene with a crack of thunder. The hammer's shaft was longer than Tsukiyo was tall and the hammer itself was carved in the shape of a golem's face with a pair of tick bolts sticking out from the sides of the head. As a whole the weapon, Juggernaut Knight, was colored a dark royal purple to match the changes of his armor. Just like with Jager Form, the Moon Pawn Gauntlets were bare, the purple gems shining brightly. However, the arms remained unchanged while the armor protecting Tsukiyo's chest had changed to match the color of his new weapon and appearing even more so like the chest muscles of a human body.

He was now Tsukiyo Panzer Form.

Being mechaniloids, the Golem units were incapable of feeling emotions like fear or concern but they did react well to the sudden spike of youki. Raising their weapons high, the fire-type Golems unleashed streams of flames upon their targets. Hefting his hammer onto his shoulder, Tsukiyo PF stood himself tall atop the Bloodbooster Cycle and leapt forward as the bike skid to a halt just short of the fire. "_Giga Brute!_"

The Juggernaut Knight lived up to its name as its massive fist-shaped hammer came down along the emotionless head of a Golem and sent it flying into its fellows alongside it. The charging attacks of the electrical units went off prematurely and as the laws of lightning dictate, the energy went to the nearest available conduit which was the now touching Golem units. The sudden electrocution short-circuited the ice units' control over their freezers and unleashed a massive payload of cold ice upwards into the air that came crashing down like spears. All-in-all, it was rather like an extreme version of the domino effect but Tsukiyo PF wasn't about to complain.

Dismissing the Juggernaut Knight, Tsukiyo's armor flashed back to Null Form as the war hammer blazed back towards home. Tsukiyo calmly walked over to the waiting Bloodbooster and retook his seat behind the stunned Nausicaä.

"You killed them…"

Tsukiyo's grip on the bike's handles tightened. "… Mechaniloids are incapable of any semblance of life. Besides, those units are not programmed to take prisoners. None of them are." He revved the engine and the Bloodbooster shot up onto its back wheel before its bony jaws opened in another roar as it plowed through the wrecked Golems, thick spikes bursting through its wheels as it crashed forward. Once clear, the spikes retracted and the demonic bike started off towards home. This time, they managed to get within sight of the building, just a few blocks distance away from the main doors to the massive apartment complex, with an admittedly large problem standing between them.

The fastest of the Maverick Hunter Guardians, minus the flyers, were standing directly between them and home and, by the sound of jet engines in the air, the rest would soon be there. Tsukiyo's eyes narrowed behind his helmet. '_That just means I'm going to have to end this quickly…_' His clawed hand hesitated over his belt but a glance at the girl sitting before him firmed his resolve. He grabbed the sapphire Crystle that was shaped like a wolf's head and blew a wolf's howl.

Aluc's eyes shined blue as he cried, "_C'mere, Ravage Rook!_"

Tsukiyo leapt off the Bloodbooster Cycle, twisting tightly in midair as twin weapons appeared onto the scene and snapped themselves tightly to his wrists. Tsukiyo landed lightly on his feet, his back hunched in a crouch before the pair of District Guardians. He lowered his arms slowly, revealing that he was now adorned with a pair of tri-claws on each hand, the chains of his Moon Pawn Gauntlets, gone like ash on the wind. Each blade was over a foot in length and shaped like the claws of a beast. Tsukiyo's visor flashed blue as the armor over his arms melted into liquid steel, changing into a more streamlined shape as cobalt fur grew in great tufts from the elbows.

He was now Tsukiyo Schneider Form.

"Heh, so this is the guy that saved your circuits, Kuwagust?" Basil snorted, taking a ready stance himself. "I'm not impressed." The insect-themed bioid didn't deign to reply to his fellow Guardian, his optics solely focused upon Tsukiyo SF though he took no attack stance of his own, which was otherwise unnoticed by Basil who continued, "What say we just take the girl and race back to headquarters? I don't want to waste time with a dead man."

Tsukyio SF growled like a savage beast, stalking forward with his Claws up at the ready. "You aren't taking her anywhere! She and I… We're leaving New Eden and you will stand aside or I'll carve a path out of you!"

"HA! You're welcome to try, half-breed!"

Tsukiyo SF saw red. "_Instance Strike!_" A flash of blue and black, sparks flying as steel claws scraped viciously together. Basil's lizard like mouth split into a fanged grin. Tsukiyo SF growled low in his throat, and pushed the reploid back and ran in a tight circle around him, one claw low enough to raise hot sparks as the blades ran along the ground. Basil followed him, still smirking, knowing full well what the so-called Rider was trying to accomplish. He was trying to find an opening to rush in and strike against, a part of Basil's defense that was lowered enough to bring the aquatic reploid down.

It would be for naught for Basil's optics were one of the best, short only of the truly high-speed flyers and runners of the Hunters, those that could reach near sound-breaking speeds. Tsukiyo's Schneider Form had all the speed of a wolf but a wolf, even a were-one, was by no means the fastest thing on two legs. However, with his eyes focused entirely upon Tsukiyo SF, Basil never took notice of his fellow Guardian's actions until it was too late.

"Daini!" Tsukiyo SF skidded to a halt, one of his Claws piercing the ground, the other half-raised as he turned and glared with dark intensity upon Kuwagust, who stood beside the Bloodbooster Cycle with one laser-bladed hand at Nausicaä's throat.

Basil scowled but otherwise stood down, knowing full well that Tsukiyo SF would not dare to attack either of them now. "Damn it, Kuwagust! I was just starting to have some fun…"

Kuwagust spared Basil a small glare before his optics focused on the enraged Tsukiyo SF. "… You stated that you would take the girl and leave New Eden. I will hold you to that."

Basil blinked, confused by his fellow reploid's words. "Kuwagust what—THE HELL!?" Basil dodged out of the way of Kuwagust's claw that, had it hit, would have impaled him in the chest. As he moved, his optics focused entirely upon his fellow-turned-traitor, Basil cursed himself for his stupidity, twisting around just in time to see Tsukiyo SF's Claws flash forward before falling into shutdown as his head flew through the air. The blade that topped it pierced the street and the head hung there with gaping jaws and dull optics, a macabre sight to behold.

Kuwagust chose to ignore it as he moved away from the Bloodbooster Cycle, who watched him with angry red eyes, and the winged girl astride it, whose own eyes were firmly closed, away from the beheaded body and its executioner who made way to them, reverting back once again to Null Form as he went.

Tsukiyo ignored Kuwagust until he was safely astride his bike, his hands on the bars and ready to make the final leg. Only then did he turn his attention back to the reploid. "You didn't have to do that."

Kuwagust stood with his four arms crossed and his head lowered, his optics on the ground as he answered. "You saved the life of Doctor Ciel… and though you had no reason to do so, you did the same for me. You… intrigued me… I've kept track of your records; never in any recorded encounter have you ever struck down a sentient being that did not give you reason to and even those were of your own ilk.

"However… with every Darkstalker you've killed, a stronger one trespasses into New Eden's borders… The Council hasn't shared their findings with us but it's not hard to figure out why they keep coming. Darkstalkers will always be attracted to places with a high number of humans, and New Eden is likely the only place left on Neo Urth that has more than a mere handful. However…" Here Kuwagust turned his full attention upon Tsukiyo. "You know just as well as I that it is _not_ the Council that is the ruling body here."

Tsukiyo's head lowered just marginally as his shoulders stiffened. Beneath him, the Bloodbooster Cycle growled, red eyes looking skyward.

"I don't care whether or not you possess Darkstalker blood, your service here is no longer necessary. Take the girl, leave New Eden, and never come back. Consider my debt repaid in full." With nothing more to say, Kuwagust turned and walked away. Tsukiyo stared after him for a long time until a small pale hand fell atop his own. He looked down at Nausicaä as she turned pure black eyes up at him.

"Can we go home now…?"

"… Yes. Let's go home." Tsukiyo revved the engine and took off down the streets. Quicker than the blink of an eye, they arrived at the apartment building that had, for the better part of Daini's life, been his home. However, the demonic bike did not bother slowing down, if anything it sped up until crashing was a guarantee. With a horrid scream, the bike's wings spread and flapped downwards, sending it jumping high, its spiked wheels piercing the wall of the apartment complex and, finding fresh purchase, climbed upwards with increasing speed.

Higher and higher the Bloodbooster climbed, lit windows and staring faces whooshing past faster than the human eye could follow. Finally, they reached the penthouse at the zenith of the complex and the Bloodbooster landed atop its own sole balcony with plenty of room to spare. The bony spikes retracted back into its engine and Tsukiyo carefully set Nausicaä on her feet beside the motorbike before he turned and regarded the skyline above New Eden's massive towers where a fresh contingent of hovercraft waited with cannons at the ready.

Tsukiyo noted that more than a few of the Guardians currently present were visibly angry, none more so than their general who, once again, stood at the nose of the lead craft. The fires of his mane were intensely bright, nearly blue, and he looked every bit of the General of the Maverick Hunters. Tsukiyo noted that the Lightwalker side of the aerial units looked exceptionally angry.

"Daini Sotsu! By the laws of the Council of New Eden, you are hereby placed under arrest!"

Tsukiyo stared at Fistleo for a long moment before his shoulders shook in a silent bout of laughter. His hand hesitated momentarily over the Crystles attached to his belt before he pulled not one but _three_ Crystles out and blew them simultaneously. Whale song accompanied the howling of a wolf as pipe organs played to a crescendo before three shining weapons appeared before Tsukiyo who took hold of them all.

The Ravage Rook claws attached themselves to his wrists, the coloration of his arms shifting to cobalt blue as furry tufts grew from the elbows. In his left hand, he grasped the massive Juggernaut Knight as though the war hammer weighed next to nothing as his chest armor shifted once more to a dark purple. In Tsukiyo's right hand was the Magnum Bishop, the gun cocked and at the ready as Tsukiyo's leg armor became green with accompanying fins once more. The Moon Pawn gauntlets were free from their chains once again with all three jewels shining brightly in their respected hues.

He was not Schneider, Panzer, of Jager. He was a fusion of all three.

He had become Tsukiyo Tribunal Form.

The gathered Lightwalkers all screamed in agony as more than a few fell from the air in a dead faint. The reploids, particularly the weaker patheon soldiers, nearly went into temporary stasis lock and the humans, what few that had yet to be evacuated or present amongst as Hunters, trembled with fear. Tsukiyo TF chuckled to himself, his youki visibly shining in mixed hues around his body. As Tsukiyo, his youki was strong, C-class at the very least and combined with any one of his Guardian Arms, his power rose to mid B-class. Combined together with all three…

He was in the upper A-class, border lining the infamous S-class with ease.

Tsukiyo TF's amber lenses flared as a sudden spike of cold youki swarmed through the air, overpowering even the Tribunal Rider's own. Eyes and optics abound turned heavenward as the massive tower that was entitled by the Council as New Eden's Wind District slowly floated onto the scene. The noise of the city seemed almost mute as the massive tower floated high above like a black monolith. Breaths were tightly drawn in, eyes widening as those watching saw something no one in living memory, human, reploid, or monsterra, could ever recall.

The gates of the Dragon's Keep… were opening.

Slowly rolling upwards, the iron gate allowed a shining light through like a beacon until the doorway was fully open and a figure could be seen standing at the entryway. The light that shone from behind him prevented any significant details from being seen aside from the serpentine tail that laid in a lazy half-circle at his feet and the crest of horns atop his head. It didn't matter anyway; there wasn't a single citizen in all of New Eden who didn't know of the Dragon's Keep sole resident.

With a sudden snap of breaking ice, scalding blue eyes with red tribal marks below them shined in the shadow of the face of Quad Blau, Overlord of the Eastern Plains of Chalice, one of the four ranking S-Class monsterra of Neo Urth, and de-facto ruler over all of New Eden.

A fanged frown split itself upon Quad Blau's face as he stared down upon Tsukiyo TF. "You… have failed my expectations of you, little boy. I had expected at least half of the Guardians laid to waste by your hand and yet only one was slain and by the hand of one of the Guardians!" Quad Blau's voice was like frozen steel, chilling to the ears with a feeling of a blade to one's bared throat. "The final test and you failed miserably!

Tsukiyo TF kept his weapons lowered but he did not bow his head to the Overlord like the Hunters. "I have had no business with you."

"Such insolence! But that is to be expected from one so immature, still an orphan child without its mother."

Tsukiyo TF's grip on the Juggernaut Knight tightened, as a finger drew close to the trigger of the Magnum Bishop. "What do you know of orphans?! You who stays at the top of your ivory tower above all of the despair, the agony, of living in this world!"

"I know _everything_ that transpires on _my _lands, little boy. I've known about you since the day you were born. Did you think it chance that all three of your guardians were capable of living within _my_ borders without detection? That I would be unaware of three A-class darkstalkers on _my_ lands? Did you think I'd allow unwelcomed guest to trespass in _my_ city? _I_ let those Darkstalkers in; _I_ made sure that no one interfered in your confrontations with them. You continue to exist because it is _my_ will that allows you to live, Daini Sotsu! I am your Overlord and you owe me _everything!_"

A flash of light and Tsukiyo was on his knees, still armored up but just barely so as his three Guardian Arms stood behind him in their natural forms. Jon Talbain, the cobalt werewolf of savage speed and raw fury. Victor von Gerdenheim, the purple-skinned golem who held in his human-made body the power of the thunderstorm. Rikuo, the emerald-scaled gillman of towering tsunamis and cold waters. The three stood at Tsukiyo's side, their eyes focused entirely upon Quad Blau who paid them no regard.

"Y-You… are _not_ my _anything!_" Tsukiyo pushed himself to his feet, staggering as he did so. "And I owe you _nothing!_" He reached down and pulled out the one Crystle he had never had a need to use.

Until now.

It was shaped like a castle tower and made of fine platinum and when Tsukiyo brought it to his mouth-guard it did not produce a terrifying sound of any sort. If anything, it was one of the most beautiful sounds that could ever be heard and, had the faith in them still lasted all these years, one could compare it to a choir of angels.

Aluc remained in his roost on Tsukiyo's belt, but he did not refrain from calling out, "_Sanctuary!_"

Silence…

There came a sudden groan, as though something large was now awakening from a deep sleep as the building shook as though it were in the midst of a might earthquake. The groan changed to a sudden roar of music as the penthouse and the few floors below it flashed with all the intensity of a star. Dust and mortar exploded outwards from the building, billowing like a dark cloud before pristine white wings burst forth and, with a mighty flap of said wings, sent the dust away to reveal an unbelievable sight.

Resting atop the apartment complex was a massive castle that was made of fine platinum than brick or stone, and was carved into the overall shape of a crouched knight with angelic white wings spread from its "back". The humans amongst the Maverick Hunters stared in awe, tears in their eyes at the sheer beauty of the castle before them. The reploids tried to keep their optics from overloading from the amount of energy the living castle was giving off. The Lightwalkers… at least those still in the conscious world, did the only thing they could do in the castle's presence.

They bowed, low and deep.

This… was the most ancient and most powerful of all Lightwalkers, the first and last of his kind. This… was High Castle Alexander.

Another stanza of music, and Alexander's massive wings flapped themselves with increasing strength and speed until, with a protesting groan from the building beneath him, Alexander lifted himself up into the air, rising higher and higher until he was level with the Dragon's Keep.

Quad Blau stood still draped in the light, his face hidden in shadows though his eyes still tracked the one balcony where a young teenage boy could be seen standing beside an equally young girl blessed with the gift of wings. Behind them stood three men and a young woman, none of them human though they appeared as such under the protective veil of High Castle Alexander. Slowly, the massive Lightwalker began to turn, facing towards the south, to the Wastes of Blade.

"Running away?" called Quad Blau. "Do you really think you can escape your fate, your destiny, so easily?"

Quad Blau almost did hear Daini's reply but when he did, it brought a fanged grin to his face. "No… but I can damn well try…"

High Castle Alexander's wings glowed brightly before it brought them down in one massive flap and it was gone, leaving a trail of light behind it as it zoomed off towards the south, the thunder crack of the sound barrier breaking behind it echoing within the silence of New Eden. Quad Blau watched until it was a shining star in the horizon before turning back to enter his inner sanctum as the gate started closing behind him.

"Yes, you may try Daini… but you will fail… just like your brother did…"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

**

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Next time… on Kamen Rider Tsukiyo: RttE...**

_They're locking up the sun, the light of reason gone,  
N'hope has been successfully undone  
The question's buring on, where is it coming from.  
No-one seems to know the monster born_

The sun's light slowly starts to go out as the sun itself begins to die. We seeing the twisted revision of the planet Earth, now a cruel mockery of what it was once before, the continents shifted to form a monster's skull. This is Neo-Urth.

_It's a bad trip on a sinking ship, when no-one seems responsible,  
Scapegoat to rock the boat, yeah, we need someone expendable  
Volunteers to face the fears, can we be sensible  
And find a way to break the fall, find out the cure for all_

The city of New Eden, the only truly safe haven for human life shining in the black as shadows rise up to attack the city walls as reploid soldiers ran forward to the defense. They are quickly cut down, their bodies broken and scattered as the monsterra draw closer to the city's heart. The monstrous horde suddenly stops as a armored figure steps forward.

_Is there a hero somewhere, someone who appears and saves the day  
Someone who holds out a hand and turns back time  
Is there a hero somewhere, someone who will never walk away  
Who doesn't turn a blind eye to a crime_

Shadow images fall over the warrior; first is Guardian Force in Fist Form, a large gauntlet-covered hand held out in a beckoning gesture, the Sands of Time swirling around him. Suddenly, he's gone, replaced by Gojira with Cast-On activated, his cannon at the ready, blazing nuclear light shining.

_They're locking up the sun, they have their chosen one,  
you know this time they'll make him play along  
They're taking to the arms, the fathers and their sons,  
there's nowhere left to run and hide_

Like Guardian Force before him, Gojira vanishes, replaced by the Dark Rider, Tsukiyo. The chains binding his gauntlets close break apart, the trio of gems shining and he leaps forward into the monsterra horde, his visor blazing brightly. As he fights through the horde, he shifts through his forms. The blazing sapphire claws of Schneider, the heavy amethyst hammer of Panzer, and the emerald gun of Jager before returning to Null. All hope seems lost, the horde just has no end, but still Tsukiyo refuses to fall, refuses to back down.

_It's a bad trip on a sinking ship, when no-one seems responsible  
Scapegoat to rock the boat, yeah, we need someone expendable  
Volunteers to face the fears, can we be sensible  
And find a way to break the fall, find out the cure for all_

Cut to the Southern Wastes where we see a red armored figure standing over a pile of corpses, all their heads removed. He removes his helmet, revealing shining blonde hair tied into ponytail and eyes like jade. His gaze travels upwards to the darkening sun, a frown on his face. In his hands is a wanted poster with Tsukiyo's visage upon it. He replaces his helmet once more and tosses the paper away. It flutters past before a sudden laserbolt blasts a hole straight through Tsukiyo's head.

_Is there a hero somewhere, someone who appears and saves the day  
Someone who holds out a hand and turns back time  
Is there a hero somewhere, someone who will never walk away  
Who doesn't turn a blind eye to a crime_

Cut to the Western Desert where a monstrous figure stands in the midst of a burning village, the innocent people, monsterra and human alike, lying dead around him. The air around him burns with his rage as debris flies past him under the power of the winds. His eyes trace the sky towards the broken moon and he spreads his arms with a powerful roar. The village is gone, wiped clean with naught but a massive crater and a trail of footprints leading towards the east.

_And in the emptiness, there's a solution,  
Just look within yourself for absolution_


	8. Glossary

Me: Unlike the previous two, Tsukiyo will have an updated glossary as the story goes on. Why? Well, why not?

Bahamut: That's your answer to everything!

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**DISCLAIMERS: I own what's my own.  
**

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**GLOSSARY**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

**_KAMEN RIDER TSUKIYO_**

The "Dark" Rider, Tsukiyo's primary armor is shaped to that of a vampiric beast, an A-Class Darkstalker and one of the most powerful monsterra on Neo Urth. In his base form, Tsukiyo is able to take on C-Class monsterra with ease but sometimes requires the aid of his "Guardian Arms" to combat against the higher classes or deadlier enemies of certain skills. Tsukiyo is able to turn day into night during the execution of his final attacks, resulting in a powerful increase of his strength.

* * *

**SAVAGE BITE**

Like Full Charge for Guardian Force, the Savage Bite unlocks all of Tsukiyo's energy into a single powerful attack as well as his Guardian Arms' special abilities. The Savage Bite is delivered via Aluc from where he rests on the YamiBuckle. During the daylight, Tsukiyo can only use the Savage Bite once but when the sun sets and night falls, he can access it a total of three times, excluding whether he did so already during the day.

* * *

**CRYSTLES**

The Crystles are the special whistles that Tsukyio uses to call for his Guardian Arms and Savage Bite. These Crystles are named respectively after their summon and are color-coded specifically. Though they appear to be made of ordinary glass, the Crystles are actually made of a fine crystal-like substance that burn any not marked with Tsukiyo's symbol.

_Savage Bite_ – Shaped like a hellish-bat and colored a dark red; allows for a Savage Bite powered attack._  
BloodBooster_ – Shaped like a human skull and colored obsidian; summons the BloodBooster Cycle.  
_Ravage Rook_ – Shaped like a wolf and colored cobalt; summons the Ravage Rook Claws.  
_Juggernaut Knight_ – Shaped like a fist and colored violet; summons the Juggernaut Knight Hammer.  
_Magnum Bishop_ – Shaped like a fin and colored green; summons the Magnum Bishop Gun.  
_Alexander_ – Shaped like a castle and colored silver; summons High Castle Alexander.

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**NULL FORM**

The base form of Tsukiyo, Null Form resembles a monstrous fusion between bear and bat with a heavy dose of vampirism added into the mix. Though the most common form Tsukiyo assumes, Null Form is, at best, a mid C rank to low B rank in terms of power. Null Form is generally weaponless until the chains binding Tsukiyo's forearms are broken and Tsukiyo's natural power is unleashed.

**WEAPON**

MOON PAWN GAUNTLETS

The Moon Pawn Gauntlets are always sealed upon transformation into Tsukiyo and remain as such until Aluc uses the Savage Bite to break the chains binding them. Unlocked, they appeared as a thick pair of forearm guards with a set of three glowing crystals along their length colored blue, purple, and green respectively.

_ATTACKS_

_Sonic Swarming_ – Tskuiyo delivers a series of punches or a barrage of sonicwaves from his palms.

_Blood Moon _– A powerful punch delivering several kilotons of pressure that creates a crater in Tsukiyo's sign. A Savage Bite required attack.

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**SCHNEIDER FORM**

When Tsukiyo summons the Ravage Rook, he assumes Schneider Form. His arms turn a blazing blue as does the lenses of his visor and he gains a feral personality like that of a wolf. Blue-tinted fur sprouts out from his elbows and the claws on his gloved hands lengthen. In this form, Tsukiyo is far more savage and prone to bouts of bloodlust and is likely to attack anything in sight, so long as its someone worth fighting. In Schneider Form, Tsukiyo gains heightened senses, particularly his hearing and sense of smell.

**WEAPON**

RAVAGE ROOK

A pair of tri-claws that attach themselves to the Moon Pawn Gauntlets. Each blade is over a foot in length and can cut through every known metal, especially the flesh of high ranking monsterra. The blades are retractable should the need arise but Tsukiyo rarely finds himself pressed to do so.

_ATTACKS_

_Instance Strike_– Energy gathers in the Rook Claws as Tsukiyo SF unleashes a powerful onslaught of slash attacks too fast to be seen by normal eyes.

_Beast Rush Cannon _– Tsukiyo SF unleashes a massive energy blast in the shape of a wolf's head from his hands. A Savage Bite required attack.

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**PANZER FORM**

When Tsukiyo summons the Juggernaut Knight, he assumes Panzer Form. His chest armor turns a dark purple as does his visor and he gains a stoic and near emotionless personality like that of a golem. In this form, Tsukiyo is incredibly strong but is weighed down both by the Juggernaut Knight and his increased muscle mass. Strangely, Tsukiyo's bio-electricity reaches new heights, actually able to cause physical pain by mere contact should he desire such a thing.

**WEAPON**

JUGGERNAUT KNIGHT

A massive hammer shaped like the face of a golem, the Juggernaut Knight is capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity with ease. The hammer is both incredibly heavy and is especially dangerous to those not immune to the electrical energies it produces.

_ATTACKS_

_Giga Brute_ – Tsukiyo PF swings the Juggernaut Knight like a baseball bat, sending his foes flying or slams it down with earth-shattering force.

_Thunder Breaker _– Tsukiyo PF charges up several gigavolts of electricity through his hammer and swings it in a downward strike. A Savage Bite required attack.

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**JAGER FORM**

When Tsukiyo summons the Magnum Bishop, he assumes Jager Form. His leg armor turns a shining emerald as does his visor and he gains a calm, almost regal personality. In addition to the color change, Tsukiyo JF gains a pair of fins along his lower legs that increase his swimming ability to that of a gill-man. In this form, Tsukiyo is incredibly quick on the draw and his accuracy increases beyond a hundred percent. Physically, he can now breathe underwater and withstand deep sea pressure with ease.

**WEAPON**

MAGNUM BISHOP

A specialized handgun in the shape of a demonic-shark that doesn't shoot bullets made of steel, but of water and its connecting elements. The speed of fire is on pair with an old-world automatic handgun.

_ATTACKS_

_Aqua Spread_ – Tsukiyo JF fires a barrage of water-bullets at his foe that freeze/boil on impact.

_Killer Vortex _– Tsukiyo JF fires a concentrated water bullet that explodes into a raging whirlpool upon impact. A Savage Bite required attack.

* * *

**TRIBUNAL FORM**

When Tsukiyo summons all three of his Armament Monsters does he assume Tribunal Form. His appearance is a fusion between his previous three forms and he's capable of wielding all three weapons at once and use them in conjuction with one another. However, because of the power of invoking three A-Class Darkstalkers, Tsukiyo can only assume this form for ten minutes in a twenty-four hour period.

**

* * *

BLOODBOOSTER CYCLE**

Tsukiyo's motorcycle, the Bloodbooster Cycle is actually the last of a race of darkstalkers known as skullriders. Resembling a cross between a demonic skeleton and a advanced motorcycle. Though D-Rank upon summoning, the BloodBooster Cycle can achieve C-Rank potential through Tsukiyo and, together, eliminate faster-paced threats with ease.

* * *

**HIGH CASTLE ALEXANDER**

Serving as both Tsukiyo's base of operations and long-range transport, High Castle Alexander is, contrary to its denizens, a Lightwalker of an unknown class though this is merely because Tsukiyo has never used its full power on a single foe, save for Geas Monsterra. MORE TO BE REVEALED.

* * *

**CYBERDYNNE CORPORATION**

Cyberdynne was the world's leading technology producing, responsible for the last major technological advancements such. In the span of a single year, Cyberdynne has had a hand in producing cellular phones, iPods, WiFi connections, etc. However, with the rise of Chaos' Neo Urth, Cyberdynne's technologies took a drastic turn to the preservation of human life… or a new kind of human civilization.

* * *

**REPLOID**

Highly advanced robotic life forms, reploids are not only capable of human emotion but most, particularly those based on humans, can reproduce. Most reploids are capable of facing C to B Class monsterra with ease and all are immune to whatever spells and enchantments they employ. There are many types of reploids built for specific purposes, most being created as "life" and others as protectors of life. Unfortunately, being alive themselves, reploids are just as susceptible to evil as humans are, willingly or otherwise. There are divided into two sub-types.

_Gynoid_ – The "human" reploids that generally possess no special abilities, weapons, etc. In essence, the "copies of life". It is the gynoid types that can reproduce with each other and humans.

_Bioid_ – The more powerful reploids that are animalistic in design and are built for specific purposes from defense of key areas to control and maintenance over certain mechaniloids.

* * *

**HUMELOID**

A Humeloid is the offspring of reploid and human parents. The amount of organic and inorganic matter in their bodies is a perfect balance and have an extended lifespan compared to ordinary humans and are capable of defending themselves against E Class Monsterra on their own power. Depending upon the reploid parent, a humeloid is capable of accessing Reploid skills and abilities but this depends entirely on the amount of inorganic matter in their bodies.

* * *

**MECHANILOID**

Mechaniloids are a type of Reploid that have little next to no A.I. and are more robotic in shape and design, though many are based on animals. Mechaniloids are often used as soldiers orhard labor, most controled by a Reploid unit, though they are primarily built for defensive purposes. Ironically, Mechaniloids are more susceptible to becoming a Maverick than a Reploid is and, as such, have several Cyber-Elves running through their systems on a daily basis. Unlike Reploids, Mechaniloids cannot reproduce.

* * *

**MAVERICKS**

Mavericks are reploids that have fallen to evil through their own means or through the stigma virus. Most Mavericks are dangerous without doing anything as they generate a field of energy that causes machines, particularly those of Cyberdynne, to go berserk unless those machines are protected through the power of cyber-elves. Though Mavericks are divided into two groups, those having chosen to be evil and those made evil outside their will, they are all dealt with in a single, and ultimately final, fashion. Termination.

* * *

**STIGMA VIRUS**

A deadly computer virus that is be to reploids what cancer is to humans. Completely uncurable, the stigma virus rewrites a reploid's SOUL down to the last program, changing them wholly and completely into a literal machine of destruction bordering on outright berserker tendencies. The Three Laws become null and void to them and most actively seek out to break them. Mavericks have no rhyme nor reason for attacking though most will focus on what they once hated before succumbing to the stigma virus. Thankfully, the stigma virus is hard to contract as it would require an internal download of the virus to gain its full effect.

* * *

**THE THREE LAWS**

1) A reploid/mechaniloid may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2) A reploid/mechaniloid must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First and Third Law.

3) A reploid/mechaniloid must protect its own existence, physical or mental, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First Law.

* * *

**HUNTERS**

The term used for the soldiers whose duty lies in the protection and safety of New Eden, the Hunters are divided up into three squadrons.

_Hunters_ – The base squadron who are the "police force" of New Eden. They actively patrol the city for crimes, what few there are, and operate solely during the daylight hours. They are generally made up of humans and humeloids.

_Maverick Hunters –_ The "shield" squadron of hunters who are based in each of New Eden's ten districts and who actively hunt Darkstalkers who invade the city's borders but whose primary responsibility is destroying Mavericks. They're primarily active at night and are made up mostly of reploids and Lightwalkers though a rare human often makes the cut.

_Dark Hunters –_ The "sword" squadron of hunters, this squadron, if it can be called that, is made of the cream of the crop. This small team of hunters actively seek out Darkstalkers and their ilk _outside_ of New Eden, primarily going for the ones with the biggest bounties on their heads.

* * *

**NEW EDEN DISTRICTS**

ICE – Nicknamed "The Frozen Hell" this area houses the massive computers that run a large portion of New Eden, primarily the hologram/force field generators and so must be constantly kept in near freezing temperatures. It should also be noted that the Ice District borders the Nameless Sea of the east.

WATER – Nicknamed "The Puddle" the Water District is actually a massive lake the holds all the fish of Neo-Urth and is located directly in the center of the Wood District and New Eden. Despite its size, the "Inland Sea" is a strange blend of salt and fresh water, which is seen better from the skies above it.

METAL – "The Residentials" is a befitting name for here is where humans, reploids, humeloids, and Lightwalkers live in peaceful, if not sometimes erractic, existence.

WOOD – "Farm Country" is the nickname of this district and it fits to a tee. Circling around the "Puddle", the Wood District is where all the food for New Eden comes from, both plant and animal. This district is often visited by Lightwalkers with affinity towards plants and animals.

FIRE – The military district where soldiers train to become Hunters of Mavericks and Darkstalkers. This district is often referred to as "Hellfire" for the rough training the soldiers go through. This district is also uncomfortably close to the borders of the Western Deserts of Liangle.

THUNDER – Nicknamed "Lightning Alley", the Thunder District is a long street of electrical powerplant and energy converters that power New Eden. Here is where mechaniloids are housed for recharge.

EARTH – "The Mudpit" is a cruel name for the Earth District for here are where the miners of New Eden dig for the minerals and metals that are then used for the city and its inhabitants. The mines themselves are a labyrinth of tunnels that few can memorize and are often investigated weekly for anyone that got lost within them.

WIND – The Wind District is not actually a part of New Eden in that it hovers high above it in the clouds. Referred to as "The Dragon's Keep" here is where the Overlord of the Eastern Plains resides alone. What he does up there no one knows since no one from New Eden dares to go up there lest they earn Quad Blau's wrath.

CYBERDYNNE CENTRAL – "The Towers of Light and Shadow" is an apt nickname for the massive twin complexes that reside on opposite ends of New Eden. Here are where reploids and mechaniloids are designed and created and where the Ruling Council resides and rule in equal number of human, reploid, and Lightwalker monsterra.

* * *

**NEW EDEN DISTRICT GUARDIANS**

ICE – Fenri Lunaedge & Poler Karmous

WATER – Lurerre & Basil Hydroglide

METAL – Vulturon & Hivolt

WOOD – Herculious Anchortus & Kuwagust Anchus

FIRE – Fistleo & Hanumachine

THUNDER – Panter Flauclaws & Pegasolt Eclair

EARTH – Noble Mandrago & Devilbat Schilt

WIND – Non-applicable.

CYBERDYNNE CENTRAL – Non-applicable.

* * *

**THE FOUR QUADRANTS OF NEO URTH**

Renamed as Neo Urth, the planet as we once knew has been changed drastically with the continents twisted and jumbled about to form an ancient predator's skull. Though technically consisting of seven continents, the planet is divided up into four quadrants based on the four directions, each quadrant is ruled by one of the four S-Class monsterra that act as overlords under Chaos herself.

_THE EASTERN PLAINS OF CHALICE_

OVERLORD: QUAD BLAU

The Eastern Plains of Chalice, contrary to the name, is the only quadrant in where humans are the more dominant lifeforms. The monstrously large city controlled by Cyberdynne Corporation, New Eden, resides there and is the only safe haven for humans, reploids, and Lightwalkers alike on Neo Urth despite it being ruled by Quad Blau. To outsiders, the city of New Eden appears as never-ending plains with naught but rolling hills for scenery, but it is only an illusion created in joint cooperation between the Ruling Council of Cyberdynne Corporation and Quad Blau.

* * *

**MONSTERRA**

Monsterra are the monsters that now run rampant on the new world Chaos has created. Ironically, all of the monsterra are native to earth but thanks to both the Silver Imperium Crystal and Chaos' influence, they have mutated beyond what they once were and should be. Shrunken down to humanoid size, the monsterra have been divided into two factions; Lightwalkers and Darkstalkers though neither side is strictly good or evil though most humans and reploids would argue otherwise.

* * *

**LIGHTWALKER**

Lightwalkers are the minority of the monsterra race as generally eighty percent of them side with what remains of the human race and so are near constantly hunted down by Chaos' forces. Generally, Lightwalkers are the "beastial" monsterra, basically old-age monsters that have little next to no human traits in them such as unicorns, griffins, etc. though there are rare exceptions among them. However, despite their lack of humanoid traits, most Lightwalkers are humanoid in size and shape while also possessing several Reploid-style enhancements in their bodies, some even being recreated as Reploids themselves.

* * *

**DARKSTALKER**

Darkstalkers, as their name emplies, are monsterra that roam primarily in the darkness of night though several high class Darkstalkers are capable of moving in the sun's light. Darkstalkers are the "humanoid" monsterra, consisting mainly of monsters that can appear human but generally are nothing close such as catwomen, were-creatures, vampires, etc. While most Darkstalkers don't feast on humans, that rarely stops them from trying to quench their near limitless bloodlust by attacking humans settlements.

* * *

**CLASS RANKS**

The type of classes in terms of the monsterra measure their power level and strength.

E CLASS = The weakest class of monsterra that possess little to no actual intelligence, general used as "cannon fodder".

D CLASS = Only substantially stronger than E Class and possessing actual intelligence and free will but possess little to no actual power.

C CLASS = The more common-found class of monsterra that can take on a non-military Reploid/Humeloids. Most are generally calm unless provoked.

B CLASS = Generally the "leader" of the lower classes that can combat against Maverick Hunters.

A CLASS = The deadliest of monsterra that require a small brigade of Hunters to take on or another A Class altogether. Generally consist of the "man-eaters", monsterra that feast on the lifeforce of others.

S CLASS = The strongest of all monsterra. To date there are only four confirmed S Class, each ruling a hemisphere of the earth and answering only to Chaos herself.

* * *

**MONSTERRA (From E to S Class)  
**

**GREMLIN**

_Type: _E-Class Darkstalker

Alone, a gremlin is a mere nuisance. In greater numbers, they unleash an unholy terror upon whatever land they're ravaging. Gremlins are referred to as the rabbits of the Darkstalker monsterra for their ability to multiple with the slightest drop of water. The stench gremlins produce is sickening to humans but has an alluring quality to other Darkstalkers, particularly the man-eaters.

**CYBER-ELF**

_Type: _D-Class Lightwalker

A strange form of monsterra that are more like computer aid programs than actual life-forms as they possess no actual body outside of cyber-space or a BioEmergance Field. Cyber-Elves are used for a variety of purposes inside Reploids and Mechaniloids but their primary function is to ensure the 'loid in question doesn't go Maverick. A precious few are adept at the healing arts and so are restricted entirely to the Medical-D Center to heal humans and reploids alike.

**OGRE**

_Type: _C-Class Darkstalker

Ogres are one of the most dangerous of C-Class monsterra for their sheer strength and overall bad attitude. Quite docile when left to their own devices, ogres become maddened beasts whenever their "territory" is invaded. Unfortunately, their territory changes quite often as ogres have poor mental facilties and suffer from short-term memory loss. Their lack of intelligence is all that separates Ogres from the higher classes for they can easily tear a reploid in two without breaking a sweat.

**CHUPACABRA**

_Type: _C-Class Darkstalker

One of the more infamous of blood-suckers, the chupacabra is classified under C-Class not just for their absolute non-discretion as to _where_ the blood comes from. Though many of them prefer livestock as easy prey, a chupacabra will not hesitate to fight for a meal, if it has to. In fact, the hungrier a chupacabra is, the more dangerous it becomes as all it will care about is fulfilling its need to feed, regardless of the danger.

**CATWOMEN**

_Type: _C-Class Darkstalker

One of the rare benign Darkstalkers, catwomen are unique in that they are born as normal human babies and grow into their feline attributes shortly before puberty sets in. As an all female race, Catwomen can only breed with normal human males and even then only female young have the potential to become a catwoman. Like other Darkstalkers, Catwomen are more active at night then during the day, as bright lights hurt their sensitive eyes. Because of their advanced sense of smell, several thousand times more powerful than a human's and equal to a werewolf's own, most Catwomen are employed as Search-&-Rescue for the forces of New Eden. Whether they want to or not.

**SOUL BEE**

_Type: _B-Class Darkstalker

Soul bees are the only known insect-type of Darkstalker monsterra, a fortunate fluke as soul bees are by far one of the more dangerous monsterra to encounter out in the wilds of Neo Urth. Though they generally inhabit the Northern Jungles of Garren, soul bees can travel all the way to the Southern Wastes of Blade if they have to. Feeding entirely on souls, even the smallest swarm can decimate an entire village of people in a single night, but that's nothing compared to what a Queen Soul Bee can do.

**GRYPHON**

_Type: _B-Class Lightwalker

Often-times referred to as the Winged Knights of the monsterra world, gryphons are by far the most honorable of monsterra. Trained from birth to be perfect aerial combatants, the skies are the gryphons' domain. Because of their sense of honor, gryphons have had a strong animosity towards any being capable of flight without wings, particularly those of technological origin. However, once you've earned a gryphon's respect, it takes a mighty big crime to break it, especially in the concern's of a debt of some sort. If one saves a gryphon's life, it will do the same. If one saves a gryphon's wings, they earn themselves the most truthworthy partner of all.

**SOUL WEAPONRY**

_Type: _A-Class Darkstalker

Soul Weaponry are a hard creature to identify and recognize. Ranked as A-Class for their ability to possess their weilder at the slightest touch, soul weaponry is, quite literally, a double-edged sword in that the soul weapon, whatever it might be, gives its weilder great power and strength at the cost of the weilder's very soul. The only weakness soul weaponry has is their weilder for, without them, a soul weapon is lifeless. It takes a great amount of willpower to combat against possession and even then, dominance over it is not always assured. Soul weaponry grow stronger through the devouring of humans souls and some can become strong enough to move on their own.


End file.
